Board approves consultant to study Stone Street lift-station odors

The Environmental Services Utility Board on March 16 voted to hire Strand Associates to study persistent odors at the Stone Street lift station on Kennedy Drive and to recommend a properly sized control system.

Zach, a technical-services staff member, told the board the lift station’s carbon filtration media — installed in 2004 — is at “end of life” and that replacing the media alone could cost “$80,000 plus.” He recommended a preliminary consulting engagement to gather gas-level data and to size any future equipment before spending on replacement media. “I want to spend some weeks gathering data from Stone Street just to look at the levels of the gases that are there,” Zach said.

The engagement was presented as a time-and-materials contract billed hourly, capped at $15,000, with execution subject to legal review. A motion to accept the engagement was made by Alman Singer and seconded by Alderwoman Lewis; the board approved the proposal on roll call.

Superintendent-level staff said the city will prioritize a long-term fix during the next fiscal year and will pursue the most cost-effective approach after the consultant delivers recommendations. The proposal aims to avoid spending on replacement media that might be undersized for current waste profiles, staff said.

The board recorded the action as an authorization to proceed with the consultant engagement; specific vote tallies were not read into the minutes beyond the roll-call approval. Staff said they will return with consultant data and recommendations once monitoring is complete.