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Committee awards Drifting Ridge engineering contract, forwards UV-equipment budget amendment
Summary
Washington County Public Works Committee approved awarding a $146,895 engineering contract for the Drifting Ridge sewer project to KB Engineering, created a related capital project for Finance review, and moved a $31,236.06 budget amendment for aging UV disinfection equipment to the Finance Committee.
The Washington County Public Works Committee on May 26 voted to award the engineering, design and construction oversight contract for the Drifting Ridge sewer project to KB Engineering for $146,895 and to forward creation of a capital project to the Finance Committee.
Kevin Gorman, Sewer District Executive Director, presented the RFP process and said firms first submitted without fees because of an anticipated federal funding requirement; after local funding changed the district solicited fee proposals and recommended the lowest bidder. The amount represents about 11.1% of the total project cost. The motion to award the contract was moved by Mr. Fisher, seconded by Mr. Wang, and adopted.
The Treasurer requested a capital project for Drifting Ridge; the committee agreed and moved the item to Finance so formal budgeting and accounting can proceed.
Gorman also requested a budget amendment of $31,236.06 from fund balance to cover repairs and replacement parts for the plant's seasonal UV disinfection system (operational May 1–Oct 31). He said the system is aging and that the plant typically replaces four or five bulbs yearly but this season required replacing eighteen bulbs at about $2,000 each. The committee moved the budget amendment to the Finance Committee and adopted the motion to forward it.
Gorman warned the committee that a full upgrade to UV disinfection is likely to cost “several hundred thousand dollars” and said he will return with options in coming months. He also explained recent weekend alerts for sewage discharges: the alerts came from the Hudson Falls combined sewer overflow (CSO) structure upstream of the plant. "It is raw sewage but it is very diluted because it is due to stormwater," Gorman said, adding that such discharges occur when stormwater overwhelms the system and that they are permitted under current rules.
On long-term infrastructure, Gorman reported two large separation projects—estimated at $15 million and $12 million—were identified previously to reduce inflow and infiltration (I&I) but that the long-term control plan has entered a monitoring phase and the district is not required to proceed with additional separation work at this time.
Next steps: the Drifting Ridge capital project and the UV budget amendment will move to the Finance Committee for formal action; Gorman will return with upgrade options and cost estimates for the UV system.
