Review bids for wastewater plant
upgrade technology
By Bay Stephens LOCAL EDITOR
BIG SKY – During their June 18
meeting, the Big Sky Water and Sewer District board approved a motion to write
a capacity letter for an agreement granting Spanish Peaks’ Phase 3C
development. They also reviewed bids for the MBR filtration technology that would
be implemented in the wastewater treatment plant upgrade currently under design.
A subcommittee of the BSWSD board
met on June 14 with their attorney and Spanish Peaks representatives to evaluate
a request for capacity from the resort’s developer. A 2002 agreement between
the district and the developer of Spanish Peaks obligates the district to
provide 42.5 million gallons of wastewater flow a year to the resort within a specific
boundary.
In order for developments to be
approved, developers must prove to the county and DEQ that there is sewer
capacity for the proposed project, which can be accomplished via a capacity
letter from the district. The letter Spanish Peaks requested confirms that the
district has enough capacity for the 19 housing and duplex units that comprise
the resort’s Phase 3C development.
The development partially crosses
out of the boundary delineated in the 2002 agreement. The district still gave
the capacity letter to the developer, but made clear that it counts toward the
42.5 million gallon total that the resort will receive, even if the new
development is not on the land to which the agreement refers.
Board member Brian Wheeler added to
the motion that the developer and the district must work to resolve any
discrepancies between the 2002 agreement and the district boundaries.
Advanced Engineering and
Environmental Services engineer Scott Buecker, who is heading the district’s
wastewater treatment plant upgrade process, also briefed the board on three
bids they had received from companies to supply the MBR filtration technology
that would allow the plant to take on more capacity and treat it to a higher
standard than the current plant.
Two firms were seriously
considered, offering bidding cost estimates that were significantly lower than
the board expected. Suez Water Technologies and Solutions and Evoqua Water
Technologies bid the MBR equipment for the upgrade for $1.32 million and $1.54
million, respectively.
After evaluating the bids, the
overall cost estimate for the lifecycle of both companies’ technology was
similar, around $3 million.
“I like where we’re at,” General
Manager Ron Edwards said. “They’re both reputable companies. These two have the
biggest market share and they have the most MBR plants installed across the
U.S. I would say.”
The board advised Buecker and
Edwards to find references from other plants that have used either company’s
technology to gain a better grasp on which would best suit their needs. The
board will choose one at their July 16 meeting.
At this point, the earliest
groundbreaking for the plant would be spring of 2021 with construction over two
summers so that the new system was operating by 2023.
