City puts off sewer plant repair

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

McCook Daily Gazette

McCook City Council members decided Monday night to defer the repair of the broken shaft at the waste water treatment plant until specifications concerning the work are completed, although Councilman Jim Kenny cautioned that they didn't want to wait too long to get this project done.

Upon the recommendation of City attorney Ronda Vetrovsky, council members postponed the item as the costs of restoring the shaft and upgrading six additional shafts will cost a total of $32,000, and public bidding statutes apply to work over $20,000.

Vetrovsky said council members could not enter into two separate contracts to avoid the bid process required.

Councilman Kenny asked Jesse Dutcher, public works director, why the six remaining shafts were not part of upgrade during the 2000 maintenance project. Dutcher explained that the engineering company at the time, Olson and Associates, chose which shafts to be upgraded.

If the project is to be bid, specifications of the repair work to be done will be presented to the City Council at their Dec. 19 meeting.

Dutcher also was asked by council members about the temporary diversion of waste from the drinking water treatment plant to the waste water treatment plant, before the completion of the deep injection system. Residual contaminants from the waste water will be in the sludge that is to be applied into the ground in the fall of 2006, and Dutcher acknowledged that although there were a lot of "unknowns" at this point, engineers will continue to do testing on the contaminants following EPA standards.

In the past, bio solids from the waste water treatment plant have not exceeded the limits, but with the additional arsenic, uranium and other materials from the waste diverted from the drinking water treatment plant, these bio solids may or may not be acceptable for land application.

The request from W Design/JHC engineering firm for increased drilling expenses regarding the deep injection well test hole met with resistance from Councilman Kenny, who said the engineering firm should have known about the increase beforehand, and that the costs were too high.

Citing the standard cost of drilling as $18 per foot, he asked why Layne Christiansen, the contractor scheduled for the drilling, was charging $35 per foot.

Greg Wolford of W Design said the expenses were due to the testing required for Class I wells, as required by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.

Councilman Aaron Kircher reminded council members that a 10 percent construction contingency of $33,120 would offset the price of $64,320.

The increase in price was approved by the majority of the council, with Councilman Kenny voting against the item, saying the methods the contractor was going to use, as well as the items requested for the project and the expensive cost concerned him.

"They (Layne Christensen) are going to find out this isn't going to work," he said.

In other action, the City Council :

* received and filed a report from Jesse Dutcher about the completion of the work done on the east water tower. Dutcher said the same crew who did the east water tower will begin work on the west water tower next year.

* approved the change order regarding a flushing hydrant for the drinking water treatment plant. This new hydrant, Dutcher said, would be a safety factor if a mechanical failure were to occur. The hydrant would be used to flush the diverted water down a nearby ditch while work or testing was being done.

* approved the ordinance for the sale of well number 7 to the Fergusen-McCook Trust in the amount of $7,500. Based on the size and the age of the well, council members agreed that this was a reasonable asking price.

* approved change orders relating to the additional refurbishment and electrical improvements done on existing wells, with Councilman Kenny casting the dissenting vote. Greg Wolford, of W Design, explained that these improvements would cost less in pumping costs and and be more efficient in pumping.

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