Andover council awards $47.44 million contract for wastewater plant improvements

The Andover City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday to award the contract for major improvements to the city's wastewater treatment plant to Walters Morgan Construction Inc., of Manhattan, Kansas, in a not-to-exceed amount of $47,440,188.

The project follows a 2020 comprehensive study and subsequent design work led by PEC with Burns & McDonnell as a partner. Rick Lance, Andover's director of public works and utilities, told the council the work will touch nearly every facet of the existing 1977 plant to meet capacity needs and anticipated state and federal regulatory requirements. "We're basically building a new plant," Lance said during the presentation, adding the design team attempted to reuse major concrete structures where feasible to reduce cost.

The bid process drew three bidders. Lance said the low bid was about 5% over the engineer's estimate; the two lowest bids were within roughly 5% of each other. Lance and the consulting engineers told the council they planned to award to the low bidder and then pursue value-engineering discussions to trim costs without undercutting long-term performance. "We can then work on towards some value engineering that could potentially negate some things that are coming up," Lance said.

PEC lead engineer Sarah (last name not specified) and city operations staff described several potential cost-savings items the contractor flagged, including alternate instrumentation and SCADA options and material substitutions for some piping and site work. The consultants said those substitutions would be vetted for operational impact before any changes were approved.

Council members pressed for assurances about contractor experience and oversight. Sarah said Walters Morgan has experience working in wastewater facilities and that PEC and Burns & McDonnell were comfortable with the contractor's qualifications; she also said the design team has ongoing contact with operators who have used similar equipment to understand practical issues. City staff noted they would closely monitor construction and operations during startup. Brian Wall, a city wastewater staff member, was identified as the on-site operations lead who will oversee construction coordination and start-up work.

The council motion as recorded: "Accept the lowest qualified bid from Walters Morgan Construction Incorporated, Manhattan, Kansas, in the not-to-exceed amount of $47,440,188 and authorize the mayor to sign the contract for Andover wastewater treatment plant improvements." The motion passed on a recorded vote of five in favor, none opposed.

Lance and the engineering team said the contract includes an owner's contingency to cover unforeseen conditions in the existing plant and site; they described it as a tracked allowance that requires owner approval before funds are spent. Consultants warned that work in an existing facility commonly reveals unexpected buried piping or construction conditions that require change orders, and that the owner contingency helps avoid frequent return trips to the council for small adjustments.

The project team said the work is intended to position the plant for at least another multi-decade service life and to meet evolving KDHE and EPA requirements. Lance called it likely the single largest project the city will undertake in the near term and said staff and consultants would continue to seek ways to reduce cost without compromising the plant's long-term operability.

Action and next steps: the council authorized execution of the construction contract. Staff and the design team will proceed with pre-construction meetings, subcontractor and supplier coordination, and the value-engineering discussions described in the presentation. The city will continue to report to the council as construction advances.

Votes at a glance

- Contract award: Walters Morgan Construction Inc.; amount: $47,440,188; motion carried 5-0.