Engineer updates council on lagoons

It was announced at a special Plains Town Council meeting that bids are going out to build the town's new sewer lagoon with the council voting unanimously to give the winning contractor an additional month to complete the project.

Shari Johnson, the town's contracted engineer, briefed the mayor and town council last Wednesday about potential problems with the construction of the lagoon with regard to a possible delay of needed materials. In Johnson's briefing, she believes an additional month would help make the project more attractive and possibly bring more contractors to the bidding table. She is concerned that a shortage of manufactured raw materials, due to staffing, trucking, and COVID, could result in fewer contractors - maybe even none - bidding on the project. 

The town settled on a price of 10 acres of property with Nick and Erika Lawyer after several mediated sessions between the two parties. Although the entire agreement has yet to be determined, after filing eminent domain proceedings in January, an agreement was made in October to pay the Lawyers $472,000, which included the property and legal fees. The original price was $186,450, which the Lawyers rejected right away, saying the land was worth more. 

The town took out a $520,000 loan two months ago in order to pay the additional cost of the property, which was slightly more than the needed amount, but would be there for possible cost overruns. There are still minor aspects of the agreement to be settled, but a down payment for the land has taken place. One larger portion of the settlement yet to be done is the relocation of a well, which will be done at a cost to the town of around $20,000, according to Johnson. 

The project will require some 5,000 to 6,000 feet of pipe, which is one of the materials in short supply, according to Johnson. Fittings and valves might also be a problem. Presently, there are four potential interested companies, two from Montana, one from Washington and one from Idaho. The town hopes to start work in March and be done in around 190 days, with the 30-day extension in the contract. It's also possible that because of the shortage that the project will be more expensive, possibly raising it to more than the $7.3 million already received in grants and the loan. The bid opening is scheduled to go out on January 11. Council member Connie Foust would like to see the job go to a local company, which she believes would have a more vested interest in the project because they live in Plains and would be directly impacted. In addition, she feels they should promote local businesses and workers. It will be a competitive bid process and the council has no influence over who gets the bid, said Johnson.  

A possible emergency backup plan would be to once again bring in the Army Corps of Engineers, which Rowan said has already said could deliver sand bags, riprap and a temporary portable bridge in the event of flooding due to mountain runoff. The Army Corps of Engineers had to place large boulders two years ago along the shoreline of the lagoon to keep the Clark Fork River from taking out the lagoon's UV station. 

Johnson said at the meeting that this is the most funding a project in the area has had in a long time. It was fully funded, although that included demolition of the existing lagoon. "At this point the money on the table might just squeak through with the new treatment plant, and that does not include the increase in constructing time we're talking about today," she said at the meeting. She also noted it also doesn't include the property acquisition support costs from Morrison-Maierle Incorporated of Missoula, which has yet to bill the town. If the town finds out that the project will exceed the funds it has on hand, there is a possibility to apply for another ARPA state grant coming up. However, they won't know until they receive the bids. 

Rowan said that at a minimum they'd like to get at least one cell in place in the event of flooding at the present lagoon, which has four operating cells on about five acres. He said they have not decided on the outcome of the present lagoon, except that it will remain in place until the new one is operational. When planning for the new lagoon began, Rowan said that because it's fully funded, sewer rates would not increase. He said the only thing that could impact the sewer rates would be if the bids are "incredibly" higher than expected.