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player ready...Chesterton’s main sewer line project will get some engineering tweaks and be put out for bids again in an attempt to reduce the cost.
The town is seeking to install a new pipe inside the main sewer line, which is around 100 years old.
A 42-inch line would be placed inside the 48-inch line that stretches from Morgan Avenue and 8th Street to the wastewater treatment plant off Woodlawn Avenue. The main sewer line, which collects waste from the town’s neighborhoods, covers a distance of 3,300 feet.
When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened bids earlier this year, the lowest proposal came in at $3.5 million, which was well over the project’s estimated $2.6 million cost. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the project, rejected the bids.
Chesterton Superintendent Dave Ryan told the town’s Utility Board Monday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided that some aspects of the proposed project could be re-engineered in the hope of reducing the cost.
After adjustments are made, the project will be rebid by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Ryan said there is a chance the project could be delayed until next year.
Chesterton received a $1 million federal grant and has given $1.3 million to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers toward the project.
Larry Brandt, the Utility Board’s president, said the board for years has realized that it’s better to address the main sewer line before a potential breakdown.
“We’re looking down the road that this is what we really need to do if we want to be responsible people managing the waste treatment process system in Chesterton,” Brandt said.
In preparing for the project, the town had to gain permission from the Norfolk Southern Railroad because the main line will go underneath the tracks.
Brandt jokingly compared the process to “negotiating with the Viet Cong.”
If the project takes longer, Brandt said it’s not an issue because the pipe is in decent enough shape. Brandt said if the town has to come up with half a million dollars or more, they will have to find a way to do it.
In other business, it was announced that Bill Williams, the chief operator of the town’s wastewater treatment plant, will retire June 1, ending his 50-year career with the town’s utility department. Kyle Dado, the assistant operator, will replace him.
“Bill Williams is one of the best operators I have ever seen,” Brandt said. “I want to give him a lot of kudos and just a huge thank you for 50 years of dedicated service to this town.”
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.