City Council Votes To Replace Wastewater Treatment Plant Sludge Building

By Gordon HopkinsThe Fairbury City Council voted to build a new wastewater treatment plant sludge loadout building.Craig Reinsch, PE, Senior Engineer for Olsson, the engineering company working with the city on other upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant, explained the need for the new building at a meeting on Tuesday, December 19, 2023.Reinsch said, “It is believe the building was installed in the late 70s or early 80s timeframe. And it had raw sewage inside of it. Raw sewage plus metal buildings, without good ventilation, is not a good combination.”“I guess to explain the project the best we are replacing the building, but only to a point. The structural steel is in good condition. And so it will be cleaned and repainted. We’re basically replacing down to the concrete perimeter wall, if you will,” said Reinsch.Reinsch also noted that they had difficulty in getting bids for the project, “So we put it out for bids. We let it out for five weeks. We called and sent letters and we got one bid.”Councilperson Phil Rogge asked, “You have any why we only got one bid? I mean, are people just that busy?”Reinsch said, “It depends on how exciting the project is, right? Doing a whole wastewater plant and having people busy for 18 months is different than taking down one building.”That single bid for the project came from Midwest Mechanical (MWM) Industrial Services, LLC, of Logan, Iowa. The bid amount was $585,500. The stated completion dates from the contractor are substantial completion by November 30, 2024, and final completion by December 31, 2024.Olsson is currently working with MWM on two other projects, a wastewater treatment plant project in Plymouth and an outfall project for Loveland Products.Reinsch said, “And so we are recommending that you would award the project to them.”The bid award is contingent upon CWSRF (Clean Water State Revolving Fund) review and approval per the project’s funding requirements.In 2021, the city approved plans to renovate the wastewater treatment plant. While the sludge loadout building is separate from that, Reinsch indicated some funds from the renovation loan could be used.“So I think the total loan amount is $6.3 million,” said Reinsch, although he also said he did not have exact numbers. “So, between the contingency that I mentioned to you initially for the project, plus, some of the funds that we aren’t going to use, that’s going to cover approximately 40 percent of the new building. So, I’m calling it between 235,000 to 250,585.”In addition, Olsson contacted NDEE (Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy) regarding the availability of additional CWSRF project funds, and Reinsch indicated they have verbally offered to cover the remainder of the project at the 17.5 percent loan forgiveness amount.

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