The Morgan County Board of Education on Aug. 5 voted to accept an architectural recommendation to work with bidders on repairs and a subsurface discharge system for the Coalfield School wastewater treatment plant and to limit any contract award to no more than $465,400.

The board approved the motion, moved by Board member Mickey Tucker and seconded by Board member Ben Jackson, by a 6-0 vote. Jonathan Dagley, Ben Jackson, Kasey Perkins, Kayron Rogers, Mickey Tucker and Billy Ward voted yea.

The board action implemented a recommendation from the project engineer that the WWTP switch from discharging to Davis Branch to a subsurface (drip) irrigation discharge to meet Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation effluent limits. In a signed letter dated Aug. 4, 2025, engineer Aaron Crenshaw, P.E., said bids received Aug. 1 ranged from about $1.52 million to nearly $2.0 million for full base bids, and recommended negotiating with the low bidders to install the drip irrigation (bid item 5) and perform improvements that would allow subsurface discharge. Crenshaw said he recommended awarding the work “up to the amount of $465,400,” and noted such an award would be contingent on successful negotiations with bidders, school board approval and funding-agency approval.

Board minutes record the motion to accept the architect’s recommendation and to work with bidders on the sewer plant project with the stated not-to-exceed amount. The minutes do not record additional debate, public comment, or alternate proposals on the item.

Background and next steps: the certified bid tabulation included three bidders (Innovative Wastewater Solutions Inc., Norris Brothers Excavating LLC, and Dynamis, Inc.) with base bids of approximately $1.52 million, $1.90 million and $1.999 million, respectively. The bid form lists a standalone price for the effluent pump/drip irrigation filter/piping/controls and installation (bid item 5); those itemized prices varied among bidders (for example, $250,000–$580,112 in the tabulation). The engineer wrote that installing the drip irrigation field would change the regulatory discharge category, reducing effluent limits and bringing the plant into compliance with TDEC requirements.

The board’s approval authorizes the district to continue negotiations and to accept a contract for the subsurface discharge system and WWTP improvements up to the $465,400 cap, subject to the conditions the engineer identified. The board’s motion does not authorize a specific contractor to proceed without the successful completion of negotiations and funding-agency approval.

Proper names and documents referenced in the discussion include Coalfield School; Davis Branch (the receiving stream named in the engineer's letter); the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC); the certified bid tabulation and the engineer's Aug. 4, 2025 letter from Aaron Crenshaw, P.E.; and the TDEC SWIG ARPA funding referenced as the construction funding source in the engineer’s correspondence.

The project remains subject to final negotiated pricing, the availability of grant funding, and any additional approvals required by the funding agency.