Water project ahead of schedule

Plans for the city's new water treatment plant and storage facility. (W Design/JHC Joint Venture)

With cooperation from the State of Nebraska, the City of McCook is ahead of the state mandated schedule for completing its water treatment plant.

Greg Wolford of W Design Associates told the council the state has reviewed the architectural plans for the construction of the water treatment plant building ahead of schedule and his office has made six minor changes to answer concerns expressed by state officials.

Wolford said the original plans were forwarded to the state on Feb. 11 and he has already met with state officials to discuss their concerns. He plans to return the updated plans to the state for final approval on Wednesday. According to the strict schedule the city must follow to avoid penalties laid down in the consent decree, the state has until March 24 to approve the plans.

The council has set the time and date to receive bids for the construction project as March 29 at 2 p.m.

Wolford said the treatment plant will be a "spartan" pre-engineered metal building. The entire building will be heated, but the office and lavatory will be the only part of the building to be cooled. The plans also include at salt storage facility.

The bid will be let in two separate contracts. One contract for the general construction of the building, including the buildings, roads, fences, grading, electrical hook ups, heating and air conditioning. The second contract, known as the heavy mechanical contract, includes all the work associated with the water mains and booster station.

The council also approved plans and specifications for the city's water reservoir and set the date to open bids for March 29, at 2 p.m. Bidders will be asked to include the price each for a 1-million, 2-million and 4-million gallon storage tank. Once the bids have been received, the council will be asked to choose between the three sizes.

Wolford told the council that state revolving loan funds could be used only to purchase a 1-million gallon storage facility. However, he feels that McCook should consider building the 4-million gallon tank -- in case something were to go wrong at the treatment plant.

The 4-million gallon tank, plus the city's two elevated water towers, would give the city approximately 57 hours of water reserves.

"This is going to be a complex plant," Wolford told the council. "Things can go wrong. We didn't feel that allowing 24 hours for parts or technicians to arrive and 24 hours for repairs is unreasonable."

If the city goes with 4 million gallons of storage, the city would be responsible for paying the difference between the cost of the larger reservoir and the cost of a 1-million gallon reservoir, money that City Manager John Bingham says the city can come up with -- perhaps from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad settlement, he wrote in the city council packet.

City staff will begin looking at ways to pay off a $225,000 fine levied against it by the U.S. Attorney General's office for not complying with mandates to reduce contaminants in the city's drinking water and to reduce the amount of ammonia being released into the Republican River from the city's waste water treatment plant.

The city also faces up to $75,500 in penalties if it does not meet certain deadlines laid down by state and federal agencies.

City Manager John Bingham said the fines can be paid from the city's general fund contingency reserves and from the water and sewer enterprise funds; however, some projects scheduled for this year will have to be delayed so the money can be used to pay the fines. The city must come up with $100,000 by March 14.

In other action, the council:

* Recommended ap-proval of a Class M Liquor License to Stephen Clark for the Republican River Valley Event Center (the former Elks Club). The license also includes the Broken Tee Par Three Golf Course.

* Awarded a contract for the 2005 armor coating project to B & H Paving Inc. of Scott City, Kan., in the amount of $1.73 per gallon

* Authorize vice president Bill Longnecker to sign letters to State Sen. Tom Baker and senators who serve on the committee of Natural Resources urging their support of LB 708.

* Accepted the financial statements and supplemental information for fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

* Approved on first reading, an ordinance authorizing a temporary easement to Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railroad.

The easement will allow the company to lay water discharge lines through Barnett Park in order to release treated water into the Republican River.