Fort Pierce utility authority approves $8.7 million guaranteed‑maximum price for Lift Station A upgrades and downtown force main

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — The Fort Pierce Utility Authority on June 3 approved Amendment 3 to its progressive design‑build master agreement, establishing a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) of $8,700,000 for CIP1, a project that upgrades Lift Station A and installs a downtown force main to route wastewater west to a new mainland treatment plant.

The board’s vote followed a presentation from utility staff outlining the Phase 1a conveyance projects, construction progress on the Jenkins Road force main, and the package of federal and state grants that will reimburse bond proceeds used to fund the work. The motion passed on a roll call vote with Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Davis, Mayor Hudson and Mrs. Gibbons voting yes; one member, Mr. Fee, was absent and excused earlier in the meeting.

Why it matters: The work is part of a multi‑phase effort to redirect wastewater flow from the island treatment facility to a new mainland municipal wastewater reclamation facility (MWRF) that staff expect to commission in December 2025, barring major storm disruption. Redirecting flow is required to operate the new plant efficiently and to reduce long‑term operation and maintenance costs.

Utility staff said the Amendment 3 GMP of $8.7 million covers construction of the Lift Station A improvements and the AE Backus (A. E. Backus Avenue) 16‑inch force main extension. The GMP includes allowances totaling $1,500,000 that staff said will be used only if necessary; the board also authorized a separate $150,000 FPUA contingency outside the GMP. Staff asked for and received board authorization to use owner direct purchasing for certain materials to avoid sales tax and reduce project costs.

“We are building a brand new state of the art wastewater plant. The construction is going really, really well out there,” said Mr. Hutchinson, utility staff, during the presentation. He explained that redirecting flow is essential: “What’s the point of a shiny new wastewater plant if you don’t have any flow going to that plant?”

Mr. Dawson, utility staff, described the CIP1 construction scope in detail, including a new fourth pump in the Lift Station A wet well for redundancy, HDPE discharge piping to improve corrosion resistance, valves and flow meters to control routing, a variable frequency drive (VFD) to improve pump energy efficiency, and repairs to concrete and liners in the wet well. The force main scope includes about 1,900 linear feet of 16‑inch PVC installed by open cut, crossings over Moores Creek with ductile iron pipe, and sections of HDPE/HDPE casing for railroad and canal crossings.

Construction updates: Staff said the Jenkins Road force main project (a separate, earlier construction amendment) is underway and expected to be substantially complete in October 2025. Horizontal directional drilling and installation of large‑diameter pipe are underway at the Ogichokee/Okeechobee corridor; crews have installed roughly 2,100 linear feet of 30‑inch pipe to date. Mr. Dawson noted an undocumented underground utility required immediate field adjustments but said project teams addressed it without stopping work.

Funding and schedule: Utility staff presented nearly $70 million in grants and appropriations tied to the overall conveyance program, including a $28 million RF2 conveyance grant (pending assignment/route with the City), a $5 million state appropriation for conveyance, approximately $25 million already received for related work, a federal appropriations line for the Glenview project, and competitive grants such as Resilient Florida and DEP water‑quality programs. Staff said bond proceeds will be used to finance CIP1 upfront and then reimbursed by grants when eligible. If approved, CIP1 construction was scheduled to start in June 2025 with a projected completion in May 2026.

Board questions and next steps: Board members asked about fees tied to canal crossings (the North St. Lucie River Water Control District Canal will assess an annual fee rather than a one‑time payment), how long the island plant will remain in service for storm flows (staff said storm capacity will still require the island for the foreseeable future), crane needs (estimated two to three days at specific crossings), and traffic and downtown disruption (staff said downtown open‑cut work will be disruptive and will be coordinated with the City and public notifications). Mr. Shane Ostrander, FPUA project manager, was identified as responding to a construction‑site utility conflict and working with the design team to keep the project moving.

Votes at a glance: The board recorded multiple procedural votes during the meeting. The board approved (1) excusing Mr. Fee’s absence, (2) minutes from the prior meeting, (3) the consent agenda (with consent item D10 pulled for a future meeting), and (4) Amendment 3 to the master agreement for CIP1 as described above. The Amendment 3 motion included authorization of the $150,000 contingency and owner direct‑purchase authority and passed on a unanimous roll call of members present.

Staff said the conveyance program will proceed in phases (Phase 1a then 1b, then Phase 2 and 3), using field testing and updated hydraulic modeling to tune subsequent work. The board set a budget workshop for June 17, when staff plan to present a five‑year capital plan and long‑term financing strategy for the wastewater plant and related conveyance projects.

The authority did not take action on the separate public comment that addressed solar energy and local air pollution; that comment was part of the meeting's public‑comment period and did not prompt a board decision.