Major improvements to the Clearwater-Clear Lake Wastewater Treatment Facility could begin as early as next month.

 

Clearwater City Administrator Kevin Kress says bids for the project came in low enough to consider moving ahead.

 

Last year, the sewer authority was awarded two state grants totalling $1.2 million for upgrades to the existing facility. 

 

They include installing a sludge dewatering system to replace the practice of discharging waste solids/sludge to an aerated lagoon; improving the pre-treatment building, including a new HVAC system and new a influent screen; upgrading the SCADA (data acquisition) system and installing new rapid infiltration basins to prevent discharge of phosphorus into the Mississippi River.

 

In March, the sewer authority board voted to move ahead with soliciting bids for the project. That action was a necessary step before the state would release the grant money.

 

Kress said the bids were opened May 16, and the lowest bid by Municipal Builders, Inc. from Andover was  $1,156,600, just under the $1.2 million grant amount. As a condition of the grant, the sewer authority is required to contribute $200,000 towards the improvements.

 

“So everything would be covered (by the grant) with the exception of the $200,000 pledge we had to make,” says Kress.

 

Now that there are official bids, the process to acquire the grant funds has begun.

 

“Once we had the bid results, we turned over the documentation to Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) that grants the money to the MPCA, who gives it to the sewer authority for the upgrades,” says Kress.

 

The sewer authority held a meeting May 24 to review the bids, but hasn’t awarded the contract yet. That won’t be done until the final grant agreement has been signed. The sewer authority is working with the Public Facilities Authority (PFA) on that agreement.

 

Kress says the sewer authority board still has to decide the scope of the project. In March, they discussed the option of doing only some of the improvements, depending on the bid totals. Once they see the final funding agreement from the PFA, they’ll have a better idea about the scope of the project.

 

Kress says the grant isn’t a reimbursement. 

 

“We show them invoices and they release money to pay the invoices,” he says.

 

The sewer authority will likely meet later this month. Once the contract is awarded, work can begin soon after, possibly in July.