Council approves $3,241,112 budget ordinance

The Town of Columbus approved a $2,445,940 construction bid with Buchanan and Sons Inc. to rehabilitate its aged wastewater treatment plant.

The town has worked on designs and to acquire funding for the project for more than two years and should begin construction soon.

Columbus Town Council met Thursday, Feb. 21 and approved the low bid contract with Buchanan and Sons. The town also approved borrowing up to $3 million from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources State Revolving Loan and Reserves, as well as a capital project budget ordinance in the amount of $3,241,112.

The budget ordinance includes $309,750 for design engineering, $287,500 for construction engineering, $2,445,940 for construction, $122,297 for contingency and $75,625 for loan closing costs.

The town plans to borrow up to $3,000,000 for the project with the no interest loan and pay cash in the amount of $241,112.

Original bids for the project came in over the town’s budget so several items were deleted from the project including sludge removal, one of three entrances, a second chlorine chamber, aeration basin improvements, a concrete truck pad for sludge loading and changing the material of construction for the lab building from split face block to regular concrete block.

Council members toured its wastewater treatment plant in 2010 and returned saying the town doesn’t have a choice but to do upgrades. The plant has well exceeded its lifespan and is now over 40 years old.

Columbus expects work to begin in May.