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Council approves $1.9M design task order for 19th Avenue and Bedford pump stations
Summary
Council approved a not-to-exceed task order with BHC (and Stantec) for preliminary design of the aging 19th Avenue and Bedford pump stations and an analysis of whether a local wastewater treatment plant is viable; council asked for options to scale scope and front-load an economic/regulatory analysis.
North Kansas City council voted July 7 to approve a task order with BHC (partnered with Stantec) to develop preliminary (about 60%) designs for the 19th Avenue and Bedford pumping stations and to evaluate the feasibility and regulatory implications of a local wastewater treatment plant.
City staff said both stations are well past their useful lives — 19th Avenue dates to 1949 and handles roughly two-thirds of the city's sewage; Bedford was reconfigured in the 1960s after the city's treatment plant closed. Staff recommended work to design both stations together so the system functions efficiently as the city grows.
Randy Gordon of BHC told council the task order includes engineering evaluation, geotechnical study and economic analysis. He said portions of the scope could be resequenced or scaled back if council preferred to front-load a financial feasibility study before committing to full preliminary design. "If you very quickly go, no, we just shut that part off," Gordon said, adding the firm can provide a rate-comparison range that models treatment options vs. current costs paid to Kansas City, Mo.
Council members expressed concern about total program cost (staff cited rough construction estimates of several million dollars per station and noted a possible $100 million order-of-magnitude estimate to build a full treatment plant) and recommended prioritizing an economic and regulatory assessment first. Staff said the task order is a not-to-exceed design limit and that scope can be adjusted by council direction.
The motion to approve the task order passed on a voice vote. The task order includes an option to scale the scope and to provide a short-cycle financial analysis so council can decide whether to pursue a treatment plant or continue using regional treatment.
"This is probably the moment in time to look into this if there ever was," a city staff member said, summarizing the rationale for studying replacement and alternatives now.
What's next: BHC will proceed with the preliminary design and provide the requested economic and regulatory analyses; council can later revise scope or pause the treatment-plant study pending initial results.
