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Council authorizes change orders for wastewater treatment plant project after director’s presentation
Summary
Friday Harbor council approved Resolution No. 3026 to authorize change orders 4–7 for the wastewater treatment plant improvement project. Public Works Director Mike Liptak told the council the items total roughly $1 million and addressed an urgent UV‑system replacement; USDA and Ecology have approved the items.
Friday Harbor’s Town Council voted on June 4 to approve Resolution No. 3026, authorizing change orders 4, 5, 6 and 7 for the wastewater treatment plant improvement project.
Public Works Director Mike Liptak told the council the set of items being added back into the scope amount to “about 1000000 dollars worth of changes.” He outlined four categories: a small reduction by substituting standard garage doors at the biosolids building; new floating (surface) mixers to improve processing and reduce retention time in sequencing batch reactors; replacement of some valve actuators with industry‑standard road‑torque actuators to improve reliability and parts availability; and replacement of a problem UV‑disinfection monitoring system that has forced full‑power operation and temporary reliance on manual chlorination.
Liptak said the UV‑system failures have required overtime for manual chlorine measurements and that replacing or upgrading the UV system is a high priority. He also said the generator must be upsized and relocated slightly to accommodate the upgraded system, and that USDA and Washington State Department of Ecology have reviewed and approved the listed items.
Council discussion focused on which items from the original project remained unfunded; Liptak said several smaller items (including a roof replacement) remain on a prioritized list and will be addressed as funding permits. The council moved and seconded the resolution and approved it by voice vote; the transcript records ayes and no recorded roll‑call tallies.
The approval allows the town to proceed with restoring or adding the listed installations and to move quickly on the UV work, which Liptak described as the “fastest one on here that we’re really pressing on” in order to reduce operational risks and overtime costs.
Next steps: the public works team will implement the authorized change‑order work and continue coordination with USDA and Ecology as project activities proceed.
