By A proposed expansion to Aberdeen’s water reclamation plant will likely be split into phases.
That’s according to City Manger Robin Bobzien, who updated the Aberdeen City Council during its regular meeting on Monday, June 17 at the Municipal Building. He spoke at the end of the meeting during the city manager’s report.
Bids were open about two weeks ago, Bobzien said, with the sole bid coming in about $40 million over what was estimated.
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Public Works Director Stu Nelson previously said expansion of the plant, is to increase treatment capacity from 8 million to 12 million gallons per day, was estimated at $73 million to $83 million.
Financing includes a loan from the state, an $18.9 million grant and $5 million from the city budget.
Bobzien
“So we are reassessing how to approach it,” Bobzien said.
One possibility is splitting the work into phases.
“The scope may have limited the bidders,” Bobzien said.
As a result, he said, work will not happen in the timeframe the city had hoped.
“We will go back to the drawing board and see how we move forward with that,” he said.
Improvements to Uptown Aberdeen also discussed
Bobzien said the city also visited with the owner of the mall, Uptown Aberdeen, to discuss the potential of improvements to the property. City officials also met with the Aberdeen Public School District about more content on the city/school television station.
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In other action, the council approved a variety of items of routine business, including:
- Three payments for a total of $10,277 to Helms and Associates for work at Aberdeen Regional Airport.
- A list of surplus firearms from unclaimed evidence at the police department.
- Two payments totaling roughly $193,000 to CWF Concrete and Masonry for concrete repairs and work on accessible sidewalk quadrants.
- A $49,187 payment to Northern Plains Contracting, along with a $6,044 change order. The bulk of the money is for the pretreatment sludge system at the wastewater treatment plant. Nelson said the change order is for pipe fittings that needed to be replaced. They were initially identified as something the city could reuse.
- Buying a reclaimed basin pump for the water treatment plant. The $92,500 purchase is an unexpected expense, but Nelson said the pump provides necessary redundancy in the treatment process. The previous pump disintegrated, he said.