Council committee awards bids for Sumner County regional water transmission lines B and C

The Gallatin City Council Committee on March 25 voted to approve ordinances awarding construction bids for two segments of the Sumner County regional water transmission main, part of a larger North Central water-main replacement effort funded in part by ARPA.

David Kellogg, public utilities superintendent, said the Line B package (ordinance 02503-17) covers roughly 25,000 feet of pipeline running through Castalian Springs and carries an estimated price of about $4.1 million. The committee approved the ordinance; the vote on the item was recorded in committee as in favor.

Kellogg described Line C (ordinance 02503-18) as the fourth water-line project in the series. He said that section runs through Portland, transferring water from the Cascades Springs/Bethpage utility district to the city of Portland, and includes about 50,000 feet of main, a pump station and related work, at a project cost "a little over $11,000,000." Council members asked about grant coverage and cost overruns; Kellogg said the projects would exceed the available grant amount and that the city of Portland had committed to paying the overage and adopted a separate resolution to pursue additional funding.

Council members also asked about easements and property access for the work. Kellogg said the city had engaged a firm that secured roughly 150 to 175 easements in short order and that only the pump-station easement remained outstanding; otherwise, the routes are on easement or right-of-way.

Both ordinances were approved by the committee for placement/award: ordinance 02503-17 (Line B) passed with a committee vote recorded as 7-0; ordinance 02503-18 (Line C) passed unanimously.