Water plant fix high on city agenda
Water plant fix high on city agenda
By Jerry W. Kram
Progress is being made in bringing the New Town Water Plant back to full production.
City public works director Daryl Lyson told the board that work done by city staff and AE2S has reduced the cost of major repairs on the plant from $1 million to $300,000.
“AE2S has been a great help,” Lyson said. “We’ve come a long way, but we are still very short handed. Another water plant employee quit, so we are kind of stuck for right now.”
Deon Stockert, an engineer with AE2S, presented a plan that broke the needed repairs down into five tasks. Each of the tasks will cost less than $100,000, which means the city was able to approve the fixes without requiring bids. The council approved the repairs.
“We have very little choice in the matter,” said councilman Darrell Salter. “These things have to be done.”
Stockert and Lyson also presented a plan to help the city run the water plant until it can find qualified operators. The updated contract will increase the amount of time AE2S personnel are at the plant from six to 12 days a month. However, the cost of the plan will be lower because the personnel will be operators and not engineers. The council approved the contract.
