Depoe Bay council accepts engineering quote for wastewater plant as pump failure prompts replacement planning

The Depoe Bay City Council at a special session Oct. 30 accepted an engineering quote to assess and address the wastewater treatment plant’s failing main pump. The transcript records an engineering quote of about $60,000 from a firm whose name is spelled inconsistently in the record ("Harley" and "Hurley"); the council asked staff to proceed with the engineering work.

S3 described the technical problem: a submersible pump that lifts wastewater from lower wet-well areas to the headworks has failed; the plant currently lacks required redundancy. S3 said one remaining pump could be rebuilt for an estimated $14,000 but noted the pump is old (original installation cited as 02/2003) and has already been rebuilt twice, so a rebuild may not be reliable. Staff said budgeting had included $125,000 in a line item for pump replacement planning.

Council discussed emergency contingency measures: staff maintain an 8-inch diesel-powered portable pump for worst-case scenarios and can request an emergency diesel pump from the valley that can be dropped into the wet well and move roughly 1,000 gallons per minute to bypass the system temporarily. Speakers cautioned that bypassing is not favored by regulators (transcript reference: "DQ"/"DQ does not like it when we bypass").

S3 and S2 both said a new pump with longer expected life is preferable to repeated rebuilds, and the engineering work will clarify options and costs. The council moved and seconded acceptance of the engineering quote and directed staff to proceed with the next steps in procurement and scheduling.

Next steps: staff to proceed with the engineering contract, clarify final vendor spelling and cost in records, and return with recommendations for pump replacement and procurement timeline.