The Carroll City Council is moving forward with plans for substantial improvements to the municipal wastewater treatment plant after bids came in below the engineer’s estimate. The proposed project included the construction of vertical loop reactor air piping and modifications to convert the system from an anaerobic to an aerobic process. Public Works Director Randy Krauel says the city opened bids last week.
The high bid from King Construction was nearly a million dollars higher at $3.898 million. City officials voted unanimously during their Dec. 16 meeting to approve the low bid from Blue Ribbon Builders, which was more than $600,000 lower than anticipated by the project’s engineers, Veenstra & Kimm, Inc.
As a result, the funding avenues will need to be adjusted. About a third of the project’s cost, $1.126 million, will come from the city’s FY24 and FY25 sewer utility fund. About another third comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, and the city will take on debt via bonds to cover the remainder. The council voted unanimously in favor of the Blue Ribbon Construction bid, and city staff will begin working with the contractor to develop a construction timeline.
