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Elkhart board ratifies emergency repairs after treatment-plant failures, hires consultant
Summary
The Elkhart Board of Public Works on July 7 ratified emergency steps to keep the wastewater treatment plant operating after equipment failures, approving a rented mobile dewatering press, a consultant contract for west-side plant studies ($105,800), and bidding documents for digester cover removal ($35,300).
The Elkhart Board of Public Works voted July 7 to ratify emergency measures taken to keep the city’s wastewater treatment plant operating after repeated equipment problems and a digester dome rupture.
Public Works Director Jeff Schafer told the board that the plant’s three aging dewatering presses had begun failing and that staff rented a mobile belt press to maintain operations. “This single mobile press did as much dewatering as our other three presses combined,” Schafer said. The board ratified Schafer’s emergency actions to rent the unit, authorize temporary electric work, and advertise a formal bid for a permanent dewatering belt press.
Schafer said an installed permanent belt press would be “anywhere from $600,000 to $800,000” and that staff will use a consultant to assess the west side of the plant before committing to further capital spending. The board authorized a professional services agreement with Wessler Engineering for up to $105,800 to evaluate pumps, valves, conveyors and operations on that side of the plant.
The board also authorized Wessler to prepare bidding documents to safely remove the partially displaced digester dome (digester 3) with fees not to exceed $35,300. Schafer warned that removing the cover is hazardous in a methane-rich environment and requires specialized specifications: “You can’t just go up there with a torch and start cutting things because you’ll make a big boom,” he said.
Schafer said staff has identified remaining SRF (State Revolving Fund) project funds to cover portions of needed work and stressed the emergency actions fit within the current budget. The board approved the ratification, the Wessler study, and the digester bidding documents by voice vote.
Next steps: Wessler will deliver initial studies and recommendations; if further construction is required, staff expects later bidding contracts and capital requests to follow.
