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20 years later. . .town approves wastewater project
The Rev. Jennings Hobson III was present last Wednesday when after 20 years the Washington Town Council finally approved a $4 million bond to pay for a new wastewater collection and treatment system. The happy Hobson – who has long supported the project – asked to be given the honor of the ceremonial first flush.
Herb White of WW Associates – the engineering firm hired by the town to manage the project – gave a brief presentation before the unanimous vote, outlining the cost of the project.
He gave an estimated project start date of Jan. 1, 2009. Construction of each phase of the project – a collection system and a wastewater treatment plant – will be done concurrently.
"We'll get this built by next Christmas," said White to a pleased and congratulatory town council.
The collection system will be built by Franklin Mechanical of Kilmarnock, Va. Its original low bid of $1.72 million was reduced to $1.29 million after resizing residential collection tanks from 200 gallons to 50 gallons. White assured the council that single residence wastewater flow would not exceed the 50 gallon capacity, however, if residents wish to install the originally specified 200 gallon tank they could upgrade by paying an extra $1,500 in addition to the estimated $7,500 per household hook-up cost.
After the bid proposals for the treatment plant came in well over budget, a second request for bids was issued after adjusting the design requirements. Littleton and Associates of Covington, Va., came back with a $2.46 million low bid. This was $400,000 less than the previous low bid, however, in order to come within the $4 million loan from the Department of Environmental Quality, a $300,000 allowance for street paving was removed to bring the final bid for the plant to $2.45 million.
The two bids together – after the deductions recommended by WW Associates – totaled $3.74 million, but when adding in a required 5 percent contingency allowance and additional engineering costs, the total project cost presented to the council was $4.16 million – about $160,000 above the loan amount. There were also legal fees associated with the closing of the loan with DEQ and the paving will eventually have to be funded, but council members are confident that the town can handle the additional expenses.
Even so, the council has tasked Laura Dodd, the town administrative assistant, to look into meals and lodging tax rates of surrounding jurisdictions in the event the town needed to raise more money to cover wastewater project expenses. The current town rate of 2.5 percent for both meals and lodging is well below what other towns in the region are levying.
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