By Bill Short
The Millington Board of Mayor and Aldermen has unanimously accepted three bids related to the closure of the city’s North Water Treatment Plant.
Board members took the actions during their March 9 regular monthly meeting on a single motion offered by Alderman Don Lowry and seconded by Alderman Thomas McGhee.
In its advertisement, the city sought bids due by Feb. 26 for the following actions to be taken at the now-closed plant:
(1) demolition of two finished underground water reservoirs
(2) isolation of existing raw and finished water lines
(3) abandonment and closure of six raw water wells
They are required by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation as the city works toward the “full decommissioning and demolition” of this facility.
Bids were received from four companies for the first action, two for the second and one for the third.
Fisher & Arnold, design consultant for the project, reviewed the required documentation and bid bond supplied by each bidder.
It recommended that the city award the bid of $295,000 by Enscor LLC for the first action and $97,500 for the second one.
The bid of $471,754 submitted by National Water Services LLC was recommended for the third action.
Either Mayor Larry Dagen or City Manager Frankie Dakin was authorized to sign a contract and any related documents with each company not exceeding the bid amounts.
Dakin has said the “overall vision” includes closure of the north plant and the transfer of all operations to the South Water Treatment Plant at 5041 Waycross Ave.
The north area will be returned to the community for “recreation purposes.”
During discussion shortly before the vote, Lowry asked if the board was able to award the three bids because the South Plant is “about ready to come on line.”
Tim Verner of Fisher & Arnold, the city’s engineering consultant for water and sewer, said the new water well is “within weeks rather than months” of being in service.
When Lowry asked whether that will occur before the three bid actions are completed, Verner said the South Plant is “already taking the entire load” for the city.
Public Works Director Wayne Cole said the North Plant’s operations were discontinued during the snow and ice storm in February.
Although the water tower at that plant will not be used, Lowry noted that it will be “saved.” Cole said it will be “very easy to put it back in service” if the city ever needs it again.
During a telephone interview last week, Dakin said a lot of “water-related infrastructure issues” will occur in “any major ice event.”
He noted that “three or four” water mains broke during that period, and the city also had “some issues” at the North water tower.
“It wasn’t an emergency situation,” he acknowledged. “But it provided us with a good opportunity to go ahead and fully transition the treatment operation to the South Plant.”
Dakin said wells are already on line at the South Plant, which has a capacity of 2 million gallons of water a day.
“With the new well coming on line,” he noted, “we’ll have a 4-million-gallon capacity. That’s enough water capacity for the city to more than double in population without a significant new investment.”
