Another option the town has is to rebid the project if the town is not happy with the renegotiated price. Columbus will have to send the plans back to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) for its approval due to changing the design of the rehabilitation. The town will have to sign off on the new design and approve the new bid.

Bids for the project came in from the low bid of $3,010,980 to a high bid of $4,238,980.

Columbus had previously planned to award the bid during its Dec. 20 and proceed with construction in early February 2013.

Although no new schedule for the project is known, Kanipe said negotiating and state approval may take another four to six weeks.

Columbus is paying for the upgrades to its approximate 40-year old wastewater treatment plant through a zero interest loan obtained from the NCDENR Construction Grants and Loans Section Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program. The total $2.75 million loan, including construction and engineering will be for 20 years. The town is using W.K. Dickson Engineering for the project.

The project was seen as a need after council members visited the plant last year and discovered the plant no longer meets state standards. Following the upgrades, the plant will remain at its 800,000 gallon per day capacity.