Hazen City authorizes advertising bids for major sanitary sewer lining project

Hazen City commissioners voted to authorize plans and advertise for bids on a sanitary sewer rehabilitation project after reviewing an engineer's report at the July meeting. City engineer Jared said the work would focus on aging clay mains using a trenchless liner after performing 10'15 spot repairs and some manhole rehabilitation.

The vote followed Jared's presentation that described the proposed approach: televise lines to locate breaks, do targeted excavations where 5'10 feet of pipe are damaged, and install a cured'in'place liner to form a new plastic pipe inside the old pipe. Jared said lining is substantially cheaper than full dig replacements and that the plan is to advertise for bids in mid'to'late September (dates discussed included Sept. 16 or 26) with a hoped'for completion next year. He also said the city will hold a required public input meeting in September to review maps, pipe conditions and recommendations before bids open.

Why it matters: The lining approach aims to extend the useful life of decades'old clay mains across older parts of town while limiting surface disruption. Commissioners framed the item as a routine infrastructure investment but emphasized public outreach and competitive bidding to control costs.

During the discussion Jared described testing already completed (compaction and subgrade checks at a private development), the plan to do a truck'roll deflection test at grade, and the officials'routine steps to advertise in targeted outlets to attract multiple bidders. He also warned that spot repairs can be expensive when excavation is required but that trenchless lining reduces overall cost for long stretches of pipe. "When we've got 5 feet or 10 feet of bad pipe, they'll excavate down, cut out the bad piece, then put in couplers, then put in a new piece of pipe," Jared said, explaining the approach to unavoidable spot repairs.

The commission voted to advertise for bids; the motion was moved and seconded from the dais and carried by roll call. Jared said he would return in October with bids in hand so the commission could review estimates and decide whether to proceed.

Next steps: A public input meeting will be scheduled in September, bids will be advertised for roughly three weeks, and commissioners expect to review bid results at the October meeting before awarding a contract or rebidding if competition or prices are insufficient.