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Board adds $2.73 million ARPA amendment for North Santiam Canyon sewer design work
Summary
Marion County approved Amendment No. 8 to the Keller Associates contract, adding $2,730,163 in ARPA funds to advance Mill City treatment plant design, Gates collection work and NEPA/environmental support. Staff said DEQ review, hydrogeologic modeling and the "3-basin" rule shape project scope; Detroit/Idanha construction remains unfunded.
Marion County commissioners on Dec. 4 approved Amendment No. 8 to the professional services contract with Keller Associates, adding $2,730,163 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for engineering design, land use and permitting support for the North Santiam Canyon Sewer Project. The amendment increases the contract total to $10,148,212 and funds final design, permitting, geotechnical work and hydrogeological modeling.
Chris Einmoo, senior project manager for Marion County Public Works, summarized several major components: a proposed Mill City wastewater treatment plant site (sequencing batch reactor), a Gates force main and collection system, and rapid infiltration basins intended to discharge treated effluent to groundwater rather than directly to the river to comply with the existing "3-basin" rule. Einmoo said the team is conducting NEPA-modeled environmental work and DEQ review and is at roughly 30% design for the treatment plant.
Einmoo told commissioners that phase 3 subsurface investigation at the McCoy site was eliminated after earlier work showed it would not meet the 3-basin rule constraints; that eliminated phase 3 yielded an estimated $200,000 savings. He said the Detroit/Idanha area was studied at a master-plan level but that construction funding for a sewer there does not exist. "We don't have construction funding for a sewer system in Detroit," Einmoo said. He added that an allocation of $3,300,000 for interim/commercial septic in Detroit exists under the IGA but that the engineering amendment before the board does not fund construction.
Commissioner (S2) moved to approve the amendment; Commissioner (S1) seconded and the board approved the motion by voice vote. Einmoo and commissioners discussed NEPA requirements tied to ARPA funding, the 3-basin constraint on surface-water discharge, the need for detailed hydrogeologic modeling and the project schedule tied to federal compliance steps.
Next steps: Amendment 8 will take Keller Associates through final design and bid phases; staff will continue environmental compliance and modeling. The board heard that some tasks are contingent on potential future regulatory changes to the 3-basin rule and that larger construction timelines remain dependent on future funding decisions.
