Board hears sewer project updates; pursues grant to pair Summit Park lift station with Clarksburg system

At its meeting the Sanitary Board received progress reports on multiple sewer projects and directed staff to pursue a grant opportunity that could shift a failing Summit Park lift station to the Clarksburg system.

Anthony reported that downtown Phase 5A sanitary trenching is complete and storm sewer work should finish Wednesday; remaining sanitary sewer lining on this side of town will be completed without tearing up the road, which staff said should minimize traffic impact. He said Phase 5B plant upgrade design documents are expected to go to DEP for review in May with the goal of bidding the project this year.

On the Arlington Sewer Extension, Anthony said right-of-way work is progressing on the Army Corps–funded contract; the Corps plans to release its contract for bid in June, initially limited to DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) firms, with a potential rebid to general competition if insufficient DBE bidders respond. Anthony said the team prefers to bid the DEP-funded portion concurrently so the work can proceed together.

Staff discussed procurement options for an interceptor-cleaning task order and suggested possibly rolling those funds into the downtown sewer contract to avoid a separate bid. On the Ferry Street task order, Anthony gave a construction estimate of $1,500,000 and a total project estimate of $1.8 million, noting staff planned to seek $1.2 million in borrowing and apply for DEP principal forgiveness to reduce borrowing needs.

Kylie reported that base construction for the Wolf Summit Sewer Extension is complete and that the contractor has submitted a roughly $2,223,000 claim for delays related to CSX; she said anticipated change orders (quantity adjustments and additional manual lining work) would come to the board between meetings. "The contractor has requested, roughly, I think it's, like, $2,223,000 dollars for delay issues related to CSX," Kylie said.

Separately, the board approved a motion to attach a continuation task order for GIS to include the Summit Park sewer system and gave staff direction to bring a task order to pursue grant funding to transfer a nearby failing lift station to the Clarksburg system. Anthony said the match is approximately 80/20 and that the board had budgeted about $150,000 for the work; staff estimated the grant could pair roughly $800,000 with local funds for the project.

Why this matters: Coordinating design and bidding between Army Corps and DEP-funded contracts, combining task orders to reduce procurement overhead, and pursuing external grant funds could lower local borrowing and accelerate repairs to aging lift-station infrastructure.

Staff said they will follow up with financial details and return with a formal task order at the next meeting.