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Council approves $186,615 contract to upgrade town water telemetry and SCADA
Summary
The Stevensville Town Council voted to award a bid to upgrade the town water system telemetry and SCADA controls using ARPA grant funds; councilors said the project is time-sensitive because of a grant deadline.
The Stevensville Town Council voted to award a contract to upgrade the town's water system telemetry and SCADA controls after engineers recommended accepting the lone qualifying bid. Councilors approved the contract after a motion and second; the tally recorded three yes votes and one member recorded as "present," and the motion passed.
The contract award covers replacement of sensors, communications, and the central control (SCADA) that links wells, reservoirs and treatment pumps to the town's operations software. Eli, an engineer with HDR Engineering, told the council a single bid arrived at $186,615 and that the firm recommended awarding the work to the bidder because of previous positive experience and responsiveness. HDR noted alternative add-on line items existed but that the bid exceeded the engineer's estimate, so the extras would be deferred.
The council and staff said the work is funded with ARPA grant money tied to a state project. A staff member told the council the funds must be expended by Dec. 31, 2025, and warned the town could be required to repay DNRC (the state grant administrator) if the project is not completed on schedule. Council members and staff said the procurement and execution timing were a driving factor in moving forward now.
Council and staff described the upgrade as a top priority to improve reliability after repeated equipment and communications problems. Steve Laster (water/sewer staff) and HDR engineers said the new system will provide alarms, reservoir levels, pump run status and flow rates into the operations software so operators can monitor levels, respond to outages and reduce manual interventions.
The council discussed whether all proposal documentation had been available to bidders and to the public. Staff said the project documents, including a recent 35-page telemetry report, had been posted with the RFP and were available at the town hall and via the bid listing on the town website. Councilors also noted the project had been discussed in budgeting and water/sewer meetings dating back to prior years.
The council approved the award by voice vote with the motion carrying. Staff said the project will be scheduled and coordinated with the contractor and that previously identified optional items would be addressed later if funds allow.
