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MUB Awards Star City Wastewater Plant Contract: Bridgeport Company Wins With $5.3M Bid

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 April 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Gary Gray, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Apr. 12--Morgantown Utility Board has selected a $5.3 million bid from Bridgeport's MEC Construction Inc. to make improvements to the utility's Star City wastewater treatment plant.

"That cost is for the project, but other engineering and administration costs will bring the cost up to about $6.4 million," said Jim Green, MUB general manager at the board's meeting Tuesday.

MUB hopes to complete the project by November 2007.

Morgantown City Council approved an ordinance on April 4, allowing the utility to issue about $8.5 million in bonds for the project. That amount includes about $2 million for possible cost overruns.

Improvements planned for the project include adding a clarifier at the plant. A clarifier allows solids to settle while the clean water flows out through special troughs. MEC also will replace two belt filter presses, which are used to squeeze water out of sludge, drying the remaining solids that can be hauled away and used as fertilizer.

MUB also will upgrade its supervisory control and data acquisition systems. The radio-controlled system allows the utility to monitor operations without needing employees on site.

Green said MUB will close on the loan on May 26. The utility will obtain the revenue bonds through the State Revolving Fund.

The plant can treat 10 million gallons of wastewater a day, but that should rise to 12 million gallons a day with the upgrades.

The board also discussed additions to its Burroughs Run/Poponoe Run stormwater project.

On Feb. 14, MUB pulled four detention ponds from its $7.1 million stormwater project, citing high property costs for the change in plans.

Instead, MUB is seeking permits from the state's Department of Environmental Protection and the rights of way from 30 to 50 property owners to widen and deepen Burroughs Run.

The project will include construction of a variety of control measures to reroute runoff away from roads and slow the swelling of creeks. The project also calls for enlarging and adding bridges, dredging creeks and building detention ponds to hold runoff.

"We're in the middle of getting the survey done, and some of the plans in the first design will stay," said Tim Ball, MUB assistant general manager. "We want to get the additional design completed by the end of the year, and surveyors are out there now."

Green said the additional design for widening and deepening the streams will cost about $61,000.

In other business, MUB:

Discussed the possible purchase of land adjacent to the utility's location off Green Bag Road. The utility had 7.5 acres near its shop area assessed at about $284,000. Negotiations are under way.

Discussed the selection of an engineering firm that will be hired to help the utility with future planning. MUB has narrowed the number of firms from eight to three.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Australia:TAH,

Source: The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.)

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