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Panama City approves $4.56 million generator for Millville plant as city cites DEP consent order
Summary
The Panama City Commission unanimously awarded a $4,564,600 contract to replace the Millville Wastewater Treatment Plant generator and approved a separate $212,000 odor-control installation; staff said the work is required under a Department of Environmental Protection consent order and that a feasibility study on longer-term options is pending.
The Panama City Commission voted unanimously June 24 to award a $4,564,600 contract to Marshall Brothers to replace the generator that provides backup power for the Millville Wastewater Treatment Plant.
City staff told commissioners the generator replacement is intended to provide full standby power to operate the plant in the event of commercial power loss. The award follows a competitive bidding process; staff said four bids were opened and Marshall Brothers submitted the lowest responsive proposal for $4,564,600. "Staff recommends the city award the bid to Marshall Brothers in the amount of $4,564,600," the staff presentation said.
Commissioners also approved a separate $212,000 contract, again to Marshall Brothers, to install a 500 cubic-feet-per-minute biological odor-control unit with a backup carbon filter at the Millville advanced wastewater treatment facility. Staff said that unit will be installed in the footprint of the original odor-control equipment to reduce corrosive gases and odors affecting nearby neighborhoods.
City staff repeatedly told the commission the projects are not optional. "We are under a consent order from the Department of Environmental Protection, requiring us to do this particular item," a staff presenter said during discussion, and added that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state grants are providing funding tied to the work. Staff said the Florida Division of Emergency Management is drafting an amendment to the HMGP (Hazard Mitigation Grant Program) agreement to accept additional grant funds and that a future budget amendment will be brought to the commission to match the higher bid.
Several commissioners and the city manager described a longer-term study commissioned earlier this year to evaluate options for the Millville plant. The firm Mott MacDonald is preparing a feasibility analysis that staff said will examine six to seven options — including hardening, expansion, and full or partial relocation (including routing some flows to the advanced treatment plant at Military Point or the West Side plant at 16th and 23rd Street). Staff estimated a relocation or major rebuild would take seven to 10 years to complete, and noted that continued investment in the existing plant may make relocation more difficult.
Commissioner discussion acknowledged the trade-offs. One commissioner said that because the city has already invested nearly $10 million in the plant over recent years and because the consent order requires work now, the city is compelled to accept the funding and proceed. Another commissioner emphasized that the feasibility study will return this fall and cover multiple scenarios, not only relocation.
The commission recorded the vote as 5–0 in favor of both the generator replacement and the odor-control installation.
The city manager said staff plans public meetings before construction in neighborhoods affected by related infrastructure projects and noted other, ongoing water and sewer improvement programs in Millville funded through HMGP, CDBG-DR and state revolving funds.
The commission did not take action on plant relocation at the meeting; staff said the feasibility study will inform any future policy decision.
