Girard council gets reports on project proposals

The Girard council on Monday received final reports and recommendations from a Joplin, Mo., engineering firm hired to delve into several capital improvement projects proposed for the city.

At the top of the list was a major repair and reconditioning project for the city’s sanitary sewer system and water treatment facility. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) had put the city on notice in March that extensive work needed to be done to bring the system back into compliance with state environmental regulations.

Chris Erisman, senior project manager and vice president of Allgeier, Martin and Associates consulting engineers from Joplin, gave his firm’s findings to the council during a special meeting called for that purpose. Erisman told the council the scope of the wastewater project increased once the KDHE became involved.

“We ended up breaking it up into two projects, or phases,” Erisman said. “Phase one addresses the KDHE notes in the compliance order, labeled the immediate needs of the system.

“Phase two is additional items the city should look at addressing, problems with the (sanitary sewer) system not addressed by KDHE. These are needs that should be looked at and addressed at some point by the city.”

The most significant problem, as identified by the KDHE report in April, was infiltration of the wastewater treatment system by storm runoff. As storm water seeps into the underground piping used to carry waste to the treatment lagoons on the southwest side of the city, some of which are almost 100 years old or older, waste moves faster between the three lagoons. That means it doesn’t remain in the system long enough to complete the full treatment cycle before being discharged.

Most of the problems can be addressed by lining those existing, aging sewer pipes — in effect, literally forcing new pipe through the existing clay tile pipe to seal the leaks, Erisman said. That has the advantage of minimizing the amount of digging that has to be done to repair or replace the existing pipe.

Council member Sharon Mattson asked, if the existing pipes are in such a state of disrepair, how could the new pipe be pushed through the crumbling remnants of the old? Erisman said it could be accomplished either by literally bursting the existing pipe underground and pushing it physically out of the way, or by using an auger-type system to crush the old pipe, which is then mixed into a slurry and pumped out even as the knew pipe is pulled into position.

Total cost for the so-called “immediate needs” items was estimated at $3.7 million in the report. That includes almost 25,000 linear feet of sewer lines, a new primary lift station where the waste water enters the main sewer treatment plant and dredging to remove accumulated silt and deepen the existing treatment lagoons, Erisman said.

The second phase of the project, the additional system needs, include another $1.3 million to clean or replace sewer lines and upgrade a lift pump station in the Forest Avenue area, and renovate additional lift stations along Centennial Street at the main treatment facility.

On the bright side of that approximately $5 million price tag, Erisman said, is so many construction firms are competing for work, actual construction bids recently have been coming in less than engineering estimates.

“The pricing we’re seeing right now, for a while they were really going up,” Erisman said. “Now, some of the bids in the last few months have been coming in at 70 or 80 percent of our estimates.

“We can’t really tell what’s going to happen, there’s just so many variables. But it’s favorable right now for cities that are doing work.”

Along with the wastewater system, Erisman’s firm also studied improvements and upgrades to the system that brings drinking water into homes in Girard, including construction of two new water towers for the city. Erisman’s estimates placed the cost of upgrading the distribution system and building the water towers at $4.3 million. A second option, which included moving the city’s water treatment plant from it’s current location outside of town to inside the city limits at $6.7 million.

But Erisman recommended against moving the treatment facility. The benefits gained by bringing water treatment into the city limits would not offset the additional costs, he said.

He further recommended the city build two, 200,000 gallon water towers to replace the existing towers. But Mayor Maurice Harley questioned if that would give the city enough storage capacity.

“That puts 400,000 gallons in the air which, in the summer, is less than one day’s usage,” Harley said. “We may want to look at 250,000 gallon tanks as an option.”

The additional 100,000 gallons of capacity probably wouldn’t cost that much more money, Erisman said. Plus, it would have the advantage of putting the city that much closer to its project need for 20 years in the future, he said.

The capital improvements list also included renovations to the existing public works building. But architect Steve Lacey or Oronogo, Mo., who was contracted to design the project, recommended demolishing the existing building completely and building new.

The difference between renovation and completely new construction was only about $40,000, Lacey said. Building new would cost an estimated $1.4 million, but the benefits would greatly outweigh the discrepancy in price.

“You’ll spend a little more money putting up a new building, but I think it will serve you better,” Lacey said.

Lacey also looked at renovations of the club house at the Girard Municipal Golf Course to add a kitchen and inside seating, a screened outdoor seating area and kitchen equipment. The only thing he didn’t address was restroom facilities, which currently are not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), he said.

Council member Mattson said the project should probably be modified to include bringing the restrooms at the club house into ADA compliance. Lacey said the additional modifications would probably add about $20,000 to the price tag of the project, estimated at about $216,000.
“If we’re doing a project that large, we might as well do it right,” Mattson said.

The final capital improvement project involves changes to the city’s sports complex, located on Forest Avenue west of downtown. Erisman’s report recommended different uses for the existing complex, which now consists of basketball and tennis courts.

The proposed renovations call for changing the configuration to one, full-sized basketball court, either two tennis courts or one tennis court and additional half-court basketball courts and the possibility of a skate park on the west end.

Cost estimates ranged from $360,000 to about $525,000, Erisman said, depending on the configuration and whether the facility ends up with an asphalt or concrete surface.

“Concrete lasts longer, it’s more durable, but it’s more expensive,” he said. “But, there wouldn’t be a problem with using asphalt.”

The idea of a skate park received almost unanimous verbal approval from the council. Mayor Harley noted attempts on the part of a group of Girard youths who attempted to rally support for a similar project about two years ago.

“A skate park would be a unique deal for the city,” Harley said. “If it was me as an individual, a skate park would be the last thing I’d think about.

“But I think there’s a need for it out there. It just doesn’t get expressed that much.”

The council took no action on the reports. Given the time limits set by KDHE on the wastewater portion of the projects, the council will revisit at least that issue at its next regular meeting Monday.