Bluff City officials face higher-than-expected water plant bid, push for funding and repairs

Bluff City officials were told at their Sept. 8 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting that a rebid for the town—s water treatment plant came in well above the engineer—s earlier estimate, prompting staff to ask state grant administrators about additional funding and to prepare a value‑engineering review with the contractor.

Austin Smith, an engineer with Mattern & Craig, told aldermen the water treatment plant project was rebid last week and that "that bid still came in fairly high." He said he has contacted First Tennessee Development District to ask whether additional money can be made available before the board asks the contractor to meet and examine ways to reduce scope or cost.

The engineer—s earlier construction estimate, Smith said, was roughly $626,700 (engineer—s estimate for construction and listed contingency), while the most recent rebid arrived about $1,350,000. Smith said a major driver of the increase has been the SCADA portion of the project, which is coming in roughly two and a half times prior estimates, and that some items included in the rebid (a booster station at Chinquapin, additional generators) were not in the original funding…