Council approves equipment purchases as city shifts to drier biosolids handling to cut disposal costs

The city moved forward on multiple items to support a conversion of wastewater biosolids handling from wet land-application to a drier-handling system intended to reduce disposal costs.

Public Works Director Jeffrey Conte explained the city has seen land-application disposal costs rise from about $95 per dry ton several years ago to over $300 per dry ton today largely because of hauling costs. He said the city’s new dewatering equipment — approved in prior meetings — centers on removing water to reduce material weight by roughly 70 percent, which in turn lowers disposal fees to an estimated $40 per dry ton in later phases.

Council action on March 3 included: - Adoption of a resolution to buy a Bobcat T740 compact track loader (Bobcat of Springfield) for $84,139 to load dewatered biosolids into trucks and support stockpiling operations. - Adoption of a prior purchase of a dump truck body and approvals of related procurement items that facilitate transport and containment of dewatered material. - Approval of electrical and plumbing invoices at the wastewater treatment plant (Richards Electric invoices totaling $24,108.18 and $94,974.37; Sparrow Plumbing invoice $34,479.22) to support equipment installation. - Approval of polymer purchase (Hawkins Incorporated) for clarifier operation (transcript lists an invoice amount of roughly $12,006 for 4,580 pounds at $2.6201 per pound).

Jeffrey Conte described this as a multi-phase program: current phase focuses on dewatering and truck/equipment logistics; future phases could include composting biosolids with yard waste to create a reusable soil amendment with a longer payback but potentially zero disposal cost. Conte and others said the shorter-term payback for the dewatering equipment and loading assets is under five years (about 4.75 years) and could be nearer three years if backlog material is included in calculations.

Council members pressed on specifics: whether the Bobcat would be rented or purchased (staff said purchase breaks even with rental in 1.5–2 years), whether the truck bodies will prevent spillage, and whether the city will build a loading pad to help dump into truck bodies. Jeffrey Conte said operations can run 24/7, that trucks will be loaded with the Bobcat at the stockpile and that the city will inspect and manage the work.

Outcome: Council adopted resolutions authorizing the purchases and invoices necessary to implement the initial dewatering/handling steps. Staff said additional capital requests (pumps, grading or sewer adjustments) may follow and that the composting option would be pursued only with outside funding assistance.