The council unanimously approved a $318,000 contract with Schaumburg & Polk, Inc. to begin engineering designs on the station at the May 13 meeting.
The overview
The current lift station is 30 years old and cannot accommodate all the wastewater being deposited into it. The wastewater begins to turn septic when it reaches this point in the collection system, Director of Public Works Scott Kriston said.
“Septic wastewater is not good,” Kriston said. “It’s hard to treat.”
The new lift station will be located near the existing lift station within Double Tree Ranch Park. It will be 10 feet deeper than the current lift station, which will allow it to operate at full wet well capacity, Kriston said. The water will also be pre-treated at this station to avoid it turning septic.
The backstory
Over the last five years, the city paid Upper Trinity Regional Wastewater District $250,000 annually to repair the current lift station, according to city documents.
The district was planning to ask the city to pay $780,000 for additional repairs, but the city will avoid that cost by installing the new lift station, Kriston said.
“This [project] has been identified for many years and we are going ahead to pull the trigger to do the engineering designs and avoid the cost that Upper Trinity wants to do,” Kriston said. “Then when we build the new lift station, our maintenance cost will decrease significantly.”
What's next?
Designs for the lift station are expected to be completed by the end of the summer, Kriston said. The city will use its utility fund to pay for the design plans.
The construction will cost around $2.5 million and is expected to be funded through a future 2025 bond, Kriston said.
Construction could potentially begin in late 2025.
