Gainesboro officials received a progress report from consulting engineers on ongoing and upcoming water infrastructure improvement projects.
Consulting Engineer Nathaniel Green said engineers are about 75 percent done with the design of the new water treatment plant. Green said engineers are still working out the details with the State Revolving Fund Loan Program. Green said the metrics the program uses to determine whether there is sufficient funding for a project are different than what Jackson Thornton used in the water rate study.
“A lot of what it has to do with is you guys have very substantial wholesale buyers, and so typically they are trying to use the average customer usage in that bill, which that’s not gonna help them in this situation,” Green said.
Green said after several discussions with TDEC, the engineering team believes that the project will soon be allowed to move forward. Green said the next step would be to submit plans and specifications.
“We’ve already submitted the planning document for the facilities planned for the project,” Green said. “Of course, in tandem, we are working on the raw water intake and the line.”
Green said the town had a contract with the engineering firm back in 2022 for an estimated $950,000 for engineering services for the intake, raw waterline, and treatment plant. Green asked for approval to amend the contract.
“When the projects for the intake and the raw water line were moved out of it, we executed a separate contract just because whenever we were submitting these documents to the state and getting reimbursement, we wanted to be able to get as much paid for by the AARP funding as possible,” Green said. “All I’m trying to do is add back to get to that same number we were at in the 2022 contract and extend the time frame to what I anticipate to be the end of the construction period for the treatment plant.”
The aldermen approved the contract amendment. Green said the treatment plant project will have a several-year timeline to complete.
“Approximately June 30th of 2030 is the number that I have right here,” Green said. “So that would be basically the end of the fiscal year of 2029. So I’m hoping it’s sooner than that. I’m just saying there are conflicts brewing right.”
Consulting Engineer Jonathan Zadick said construction has started on the water intake.
“The plan is for Monday for them to start a demo on the existing structure, so that’ll kind of really get the project going,” Zadick said.
Zadick also provided an update on the stormwater project that will improve drainage near Gainesboro Elementary. Zadick said they are waiting on the state to finalize documents to officially award the project to West Farms.