Engineering approved for Highland sewer plant upgrade
The Highland City Council on Monday approved engineering services for an upgrade to the Water Reclamation Plant and further rehabilitation to other parts of the city’s sanitary sewer system.
The council approved a $200,000 engineering services agreement with the St. Louis firm of Crawford, Murphy & Tilly (CMT), the same firm that created the city’s master sanitary sewer rehabilitation plan in 2013.
The city has nearly completed phase one of its rehab to its sanitary sewer system, portions of which are a century old. The upgrades were paid for by issuing bonds. There is still $150,000 left of that money, and Public Works Director Joe Gillespie said he wants to use it to have the system’s three main truck lines inspected and evaluated. Gillespie estimated the cost of that work to be around $130,000.
CMT would subcontract the cleaning and inspection and then prepare a plan for repairs/upgrades based on data collected.
Also, the city has several plans for upgrades at the Water Reclamation Plant. However, “it has become apparent that some of those proposed items will not fit anticipated EPA regulations,” Gillespie wrote in a memo to council members.
The city already had money budgeted to do the upgrades, but due to the need to work within EPA guidelines, the council approved shifting the money to instead update the plant’s facilities plan.
“An updated plan is necessary to secure any future Illinois State Revolving Loan Fund and maps out the best strategy for our plant,” Gillespie said.
Other Council Action
In other action at its meeting on Dec. 7, the Highland City Council:
▪ Approved a $1,000 funding request for the Highland Optimists Basketball Shootout.
▪ Authorized a property tax levy of $511,205 for the Highland Police Pension Board. The Illinois Department of Insurance had recommended a levy of $427,278. However, the Police Pension Board had Tepher Consulting Group (TCG), an actuarial firm, to come up with an independent recommendation. TCG used a higher mortality assumption and a more conservative assumption on investment income and came up with the higher number.
▪ Authorized using FCB for the majority of the city’s banking services.
▪ Approved Christina Harisberger for a spot on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission. She replaces Carrie Belford, who moved. Harisberger is a teacher at St. Paul. Her term will expire on July 31, 2017.
This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 3:25 AM with the headline "Engineering approved for Highland sewer plant upgrade."