COMMISSIONERS APPROVE WATER
PLANT CONTRACTOR LIST
Bid solicitation letters go out Tuesday

By Jon Mayhew

LINCOLNTON -- At a special called board meeting Monday night, Lincoln County Commissioners took a crucial step towards getting a new waste water treatment plant in the eastern part of Lincoln County.

In one of the shortest meetings in Lincoln County Commission history, commissioners unanimously approved a list of contractors that can bid on the Killian Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) project and the Killian Creek Pump Station project.

County manager George Wood said county staff weeded out those contractors that didn't meet specifications prior to commissioners' vote.

"We took two out of 13 contractors wor the waste water treatment plant," Wood said to the commissioners. "We also took out nine out of 24 bidders for the pump station, force main and line work."

Letters were expected to go out Tuesday to the qualified contractors, where county leaders were seeking bids on the project. The new treatment plant is expected to cost around $23 million, with most of the money -- $17.5 million -- coming from a state revolving loan fund.

"That was a bond with the best interest rate," said Wood, adding the rest of the project will also be paid with bond monies as well.

Wood also said commisisoners saved about two weeks of time by approving the list now.

Once construction bids come in, the responsibility of completing the project falls to the companies who receive the contract. Expected completion date on the project is August 2010.

At that time, the contractor on the pump station will have 30 days to initiate sewer flow to the new plant from the Forney Creek WWTP.

Contractors who receive letters from the county director of public works will have until February 10, 2009, to get bids turned in to the county.

Commissioners reached a consensus Monday night that they would like to be kept informed on the progress of the project on a monthly basis.

"We don't want a dog-and-pony show," said commissioner Bruce Carlton. "We just want to know what's going on with the project."