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St. Helens to seek new reservoir site after decades of leaks; RFP aims to pick location for 5 million‑gallon replacement
Summary
City staff presented an RFP to study sites for a new reservoir after past rehabilitation work failed; longtime resident detailed a timeline of leaks, litigation and mediation involving contractor WPI and Walker Consultants.
City of St. Helens staff said the city will issue a request for proposals to study and select a site for a new reservoir after repeated problems with an older facility, and described a two‑step procurement approach that would first identify the best location and then proceed to design and construction.
The request for proposals (RFP) under review would select a consultant to evaluate four candidate sites identified in the city’s master plan and determine the most suitable location for a new 5,000,000‑gallon reservoir intended to meet long‑term capacity needs. City public works staff said the site‑selection study will be followed by a separate RFP for design and construction.
The work matters because the existing 100‑year‑old reservoir is out of service and, staff said, cannot reliably meet capacity demands. “You can pull millions in it and you still have issues on leaking, or you can just do the right thing and build a new one to meet capacity,” a city presenter said during the meeting. The city emphasized the study will include geotechnical, soils and other specialist work and that a selection committee will score bidders and review subcontractors’ qualifications.
The item drew an extended public comment from resident Ron Trommitz, who told the council he had tracked leak events and subsequent contracting and legal actions dating to 2016. Trommitz read a timeline that included incidents he said occurred in 2016 and 2017, a 2016 rehabilitation contract with WPI, later litigation, and a March–April 2021 mediation that he said acknowledged fault on multiple parties. He cited a April 8, 2022, settlement agreement he said was signed with “no liability for the contractors,” and said core samples were taken in May 2022.
City staff acknowledged Trommitz’s repeated inquiries and said staff have worked to address the reservoir problem since joining the city. Staff described earlier engineering work on the existing reservoir and said consultants had raised concern that attempts to rehabilitate the aging structure could leave site instability and geotechnical hazards because the reservoir and a second 2,000,000‑gallon tank sit within 50 feet of one another. Staff said a prior contractor’s design raised concerns that a rebuilt tank “might be leaking,” which prompted the city to halt work with that designer.
Councilors and staff discussed practical obstacles the consultant will examine, including land purchase risk (some candidate sites are privately owned), groundwater and infiltration issues, and the need for a generator and continuous dewatering during some work. Staff said the RFP will require geotechnical investigations, soils testing and other technical qualifications from bidders.
No formal action or contract award occurred at the work session; councilors reviewed the RFP language and asked questions about the timeline and the committee scoring process. Staff said findings on a recommended site would be presented to the council and that subsequent design/construction procurement would be a separate step.
The council set no schedule for the second procurement, but staff said the site‑selection study should produce the technical data needed to proceed if a site proves suitable.
