Ridgewood Water presents $6M+ in contracts, prioritizes Eastside main ahead of PFAS facility work

Ridgewood Water staff briefed the Village Council on an extensive slate of water‑utility work on Jan. 8, including capital contracts tied to the planned Eastside PFAS treatment effort and a series of annual service awards.

Director Kalbi (department head) called up environmental engineer Yolanda "Lonnie" McCollum to outline 24 items the utility is seeking to award, renew or amend. Lonnie told the council that, for the first time, many routine annual contracts were being presented together to reduce piecemeal approvals over the year.

Major capital and procurement items summarized by staff included:

- Eastside distribution water main replacement (non‑IBank portion): Matina & Son recommended low bidder, $2,673,000. Staff said the water main replacement was prioritized to align with a raw‑water main that will transmit well water to the planned Eastside PFAS treatment facility so roads will be resurfaced only once.

- Water service line (main‑to‑curb) replacements supplemental contract: Conquest, not‑to‑exceed $200,000 (lead service‑line replacement work to supplement utility crews).

- Annual and recurring contracts: tree maintenance $80,000 (Olmstead Tree & Shrub Care); sodium hypochlorite supply $124,000; line‑stop and valve insertion $100,000; well and pumping maintenance $500,000; pipe and appurtenances combined sections $415,000; infrared asphalt repair $175,000; concrete pavement repairs $50,000; cold water meters and accessories $223,452; asphalt trench repair $50,000; PFAS laboratory analysis $90,080; non‑PFAS laboratory analysis $177,755 (selected vendor PACE Analytical due to local lab proximity requirement); landscaping services $149,950; electrical services $250,000; SCADA software support (Emerson) $22,549.46; hydrogeological consultant $109,000; billing services year‑option (Computel) $343,068; collections pilot with Computel $53,000; cooperative purchases for stone/backfill $100,000; Hock Company maintenance for analyzers $1,054,000.

Staff said some items were year‑two renewals of existing contracts; others were single‑year awards. Kalbi and Lonnie emphasized the Eastside main as a near‑term priority because it supports the PFAS treatment infrastructure and minimizes future pavement disruption.

Other notes: staff reported a change order request to increase an earlier main‑to‑curb contract by $49,000 (new total request not to exceed $200,000) and a small reimbursement to correct an overpayment of $1,481.98.

Why it matters: The Eastside distribution main supports the raw‑water routing needed for the planned PFAS treatment facility and represents the largest single bid announced at the workshop. Several annual contracts support operations and compliance monitoring (lab testing, analyzer maintenance). Staff said the water utility is moving to build more in‑house laboratory capability for some analyses (volatile organic compounds) in the near term; PFAS testing remains outsourced while in‑house certification is completed.

What’s next: Staff presented the awards and supporting memos for council consideration; no formal roll‑call votes were recorded during the workshop. Several council members asked procedural questions about vendor references and in‑house testing timelines. Staff indicated some contracts are renewals and that awards would be enacted via the normal consent or award process at upcoming meetings.