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Allegan council approves $410,000 engineering contract for wastewater sludge thickener; ROI questions remain
Summary
The Allegan City Council approved PO26-0822 to fund $410,000 in engineering, bidding and construction management for a sludge-thickening system at the wastewater plant as part of a roughly $2 million project; staff said the measure could reduce biosolid disposal volumes by 15–25% but council members pressed for clearer payback estimates before construction.
Council approved PO26-0822 at the July 14 meeting to contract engineering services for a sludge thickener at the city wastewater plant. The purchase order covers design, bidding and construction management at a cost of $410,000. Staff said the overall project is estimated at about $2,000,000.
Staff explained the thickener would dewater biosolids delivered to the plant, reducing the volume sent for land application and lowering ongoing disposal costs. The water utilities director’s memo, included in the packet, estimated operational savings in the 15–25% range for biosolids handling.
Several council members pressed for clearer return-on-investment numbers and asked how quickly capital costs would be recovered through reduced disposal spending. One council member calculated that, based on current budget assumptions, simple payback could be multiple decades (a comment in the record noted a 42‑year payback under a particular arithmetic example), prompting discussion about whether additional financial detail should be provided before moving forward.
Staff responded that the project is part of a six-year capital improvement plan, that the budget includes funds for sludge thickening and that the work positions the city to comply with potential future restrictions on land application. The council discussed capacity and smell concerns and the potential need for a second thickener as a redundancy measure.
After discussion the council approved the $410,000 PO for engineering and construction administration; the meeting minutes record a 5–2 outcome on the motion to approve the PO.
