Willard gives provisional OK to Lift Station 94–Springfield sewer upgrade; contract contingent on financing

The Board of Aldermen of the City of Willard provisionally approved a construction contract with Youngs General Contracting for the Lift Station 94–Springfield sewer upgrade, contingent on securing the city's required local match and affordable financing. The board voted in favor of resolution 25-44 in a roll-call vote recorded as unanimous.

The project manager, Steve, told the board the contract's low base bid is $4,866,635 for installation using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. "This project is about 18,000 feet of 18 inches force main from 94 to connection to Springfield," Steve said, explaining the work will replace a 10-inch ductile iron force main installed in 1985 and increase conveyance capacity between Willard and Springfield.

Staff said the project is layered with outside funding. The application that became a congressional earmark and was administered through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency covers $3,722,900 of project costs; the city's local match has risen in subsequent cost updates from $744,500 to roughly $2,766,469. To preserve the contractor's bid pricing (the bid documents require a 60-day price guarantee), staff recommended short-term bank financing to be repaid or refinanced later with certificates of participation (COPs) or another long-term instrument.

Steve described why the city selected HDPE over PVC and ductile iron: HDPE joints are fused by heat fusion, which avoids bell-and-spigot joint failures the city experienced on earlier runs of PVC, and the material is inert to sulfuric-acid attack caused by hydrogen sulfide in sewer gas. He also said several alternates (surge tanks, larger generator capacity) were priced but are not being pursued in the initial contract.

Staff noted timing constraints: contractors must hold pricing for 60 days after bid opening (that date yields a pricing guarantee deadline in mid-November). City staff and the city's financial adviser, Piper, described a two-step financing approach: short-term bank financing with an interest estimate near 3 percent to meet the near-term deadline, followed by a longer-term COP issuance (higher rate, around 5 percent) if needed to pay off the short-term loan and finance any additional work such as the Meadows gravity trunk main. The board was told a roughly $250,000 contingency is included in the project budget to address unforeseen site conditions.

The resolution passed on a roll-call vote. The resolution gives staff provisional authority to finalize documentation necessary to demonstrate Willard's ability to fund the remaining local match to the EPA and move toward formal contract execution, but final contractual approval will return to the board after financing details are secured.

If approved and funded, the project will increase sewer capacity for the city and reduce the likelihood of repeated failures on the existing line, staff said. The Meadows gravity trunk main, a separate but related project to divert sewage from local lagoons and connect to the airport lift station and Springfield, is ready to be bid and may be financed as part of the broader package.