The Kenai City Council enacted an ordinance increasing estimated revenues and appropriations that authorizes a construction agreement and purchase order for the Sludge Press Replacement Project. A formal invitation to bid was released in June seeking construction services to provide for the replacement of the 40+ year old sludge press at the wastewater plant. The department will replace it with a new Andritz screw press and its anticipated delivery is scheduled for late October 2022.
City Manager Paul Ostrander:
“A sludge press is what presses out the liquids from the solids and de-waters those solids so we can then ship them off to the landfill. It’s the last step in the process of the wastewater treatment plant. So you have those solids and you want to de-water them so you take less weight to the landfill than you would otherwise.”
The bids were originally due on June 28 and based on a lack of interest from contractors, the due date was extended to July 22. Two bids were received with the low bid being withdrawn at the request of the bidder, leaving Blazy Construction the lowest responsive and responsible bidder at a cost of $1,437,913.
Ostrander added:
“The engineer’s estimate was bout $120,000 less than what the bid was, but we had more than the engineer’s estimate budgeted for the project initially.”
The Ordinance also will appropriate contingency funding for the processing of change orders in the amount of $72,000, approximately 5% of total construction contract, as well as $25,000 for City Admin services, and $143,000 for Engineering Contract Administration Services, for a total appropriation cost of $240,000.
According to Scott Curtin, Director of Public Works, completion of this work now is essential as parts haven’t been available for the existing press for an extended period of time, with failed pieces often requiring fabrication to maintain operability.