Council approves SCADA modernization, rain-barrel purchases and multiple infrastructure contracts

Savannah City Council approved a batch of infrastructure and purchasing items June 25 that city staff said will modernize system controls and expand stormwater mitigation tools for residents.

City managers and Chief Ron Felner described a SCADA modernization program to consolidate supervisory control and data-acquisition platforms across water, wastewater and stormwater into a single operational view. Council approved the associated contract (agenda item 26) to deploy programmable logic and control instruments, which the manager said will improve real-time visibility, support data-driven operations and help reduce sanitary-sewer overruns.

Council also approved purchases tied to city maintenance and capital needs, including a contract modification for water/sewer/stormwater infrastructure repair (item 27, described in meeting as not to exceed $5 million), a $1.598 million overhaul of two primary clarifiers at the President Street wastewater treatment plant (item 29), and procurement of rain barrels to support a forthcoming stormwater utility credit program scheduled to begin Sept. 1. Chief Felner said rain barrels will be distributed at community events and will qualify residents for credit on future stormwater bills by capturing rooftop runoff.

Several other purchasing items (23,24,25,27,28,29) were approved as a group; item 22 was pulled for two weeks. Council members emphasized the intent to deploy revenues from the new stormwater utility toward neighborhood-scale projects and increased operational capacity such as additional vac trucks and maintenance crews.

City staff said some of the stormwater utility revenue will be used for small capital projects designed to provide visible neighborhood benefits and to accelerate system reliability work.

Council passed the listed procurement items and authorized staff to proceed with contract execution and program rollout.