Mobridge approves equipment procurement advertisement and multiple pay requests for wastewater and water-plant rehab

The Mobridge City Council on Wednesday approved advertising for equipment procurement for a wastewater treatment plant rehabilitation project and authorized several contractor pay requests tied to ongoing water and wastewater rehabilitation work.

Council members approved the motion to advertise for equipment procurement for the wastewater treatment plant rehabilitation project, a step staff said is contingent on DNIR approval. A staff speaker said the city plans to buy equipment before bidding the construction contract, noting a prior water-plant rehabilitation that required rebidding after contractors submitted limited, noncompetitive equipment proposals. “We actually did it twice... we did not procure equipment and, got forced bids because some contractors were sole sourcing some equipment,” the staff member said.

The procurement plan calls for the city to advertise and purchase specified equipment, then award the construction contract to the lowest responsive bidder who will install that equipment. Staff told the council they expect to advertise for equipment mid to late July pending regulatory approval.

The council also approved multiple contractor pay requests tied to related projects:

- Pay request No. 5 to Preload LLC for $431,292.60 (tower/floor/wall work). - Pay request No. 4 to Crow River LLC for $713,992.34 (water main work west of the cemetery toward the golf course). - Pay request No. 5 to Century for $205,626.33 (clarifiers and trough equipment shown on site). - Pay request to Moose Electric for $22,797.00 (electrical work at the water treatment plant).

Council approved a deductive change order (Change Order No. 2) for Crow River that reduces the contract by $4,650 by replacing a planned 12-inch gate valve with a 6-inch detail where staff and contractor determined the larger valve was unnecessary.

Staff also asked the council to approve an administrative agreement with NACOG (noted in the meeting packet as the agreement to administer CDBG paperwork). The staff explanation said the $20,000 NACOG administrative cost will be wrapped into the CDBG grant awarded for the wastewater treatment plant project; NACOG will handle grant paperwork and compliance once construction begins.

Council members asked no substantive follow-up questions during the motions; each motion was moved, seconded and approved by roll call.

What the city said about schedule and scope

Staff told the council that design is nearly complete and that equipment procurement advertising would follow design completion and regulatory approval. The water-main work mentioned is on a highway west of the cemetery toward the golf course. The Century equipment (clarifiers and troughs) had been shown on site in recent weeks, and Moose Electric’s work covered both inside and outside the plant.

Funding and next steps

Staff said the CDBG award will cover construction-related grant-eligible costs and that the NACOG administrative fee will be paid from the grant. The equipment procurement and subsequent construction contracts will proceed after the advertised procurement and standard bidding process and contingent on the regulatory approval noted during the discussion.

The council’s votes on these items were recorded by roll call; no dissent or abstentions were noted in the meeting transcript.