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Niles wastewater plant costs exceed $33M
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
A design engineer for the city’s proposed wastewater-treatment plant has estimated construction costs at $33.3 million. That figure does not include the costs of design and project management.
The facility would replace the city’s aging wastewater plant, which is unable to meet Environmental Protection Agency standards. The new plant is not expected to be operational until December 2018 at the earliest.
“We need to confirm if we are on schedule with the EPA,” said Robert Hrusovsky, vice president of MWH, the Cleveland firm designing the project. “We should be able to bid out by May if everything stays on schedule.”
However, the engineer warned that EPA requirements could change and so could the cost if the agency revises the standards.
“We need to know if the EPA will demand more after the plant is built,” Hrusovsky said, a problem that concerned council members who listened to the engineer’s presentation before Wednesday’s council meeting.
“I don’t want to see us build this and have to start over,” said Robert Marino, council president.
The reaction was significantly different from a contentious meeting last August when council complained vehemently to MHW about escalating costs.
At that time, Thomas Ungar, principal engineer for the project, estimated construction costs at $32 million and total costs at $36.6 million. Ungar said the firm made significant changes to the initial design, which “dropped $10 million” from facility costs.
Hrusovsky, however, was reluctant to estimate the final cost because of an apparent lack of guidance or information from the EPA.
“I would have no idea what the total cost will be,” he responded to a reporter’s question.
In one other item, police Chief Robert Hinton is getting help as he challenges Ford Motor Co. for its refusal to pay for repairs to 14 city police cruisers with extreme flaking and paint peeling.
The Vindicator reported this week that the company declined to pay because “the vehicles were outside the extended warranty,” according to a Ford spokeswoman.
The cruisers are 2007 and 2008 Ford Crown Victorias.
Those models have a history of paint problems and have been the subject of lawsuits and investigative reports by several media outlets, including NBC.
Stephen Gaiski of Ann Arbor, Mich., a former Ford consultant who contacted Hinton after reading about the paint issues, plans to provide the chief with a measurement template and a thickness gauge to help buttress the chief’s case.