Village plans for sewer project

DUNDEE--The Dundee village trustees voted unanimously to award bids totaling roughly $800,000 to Kenyon Pipeline Inspection for the sewer rehabilitation project during the Tuesday, Feb. 11 board meeting. Coming in at about $200,000 under what was expected, Dundee Mayor Fred Cratsley said the money saved will be reinvested into completing more sewer rehabilitation work than was originally expected.
"We have a $1 million (Community Block Development Grant) for this project, so while the bid came in $200,000 less than expected we would not save anything by not spending that money. Instead we will finish more work to come up with that $200,000," Cratsley said.
Cratsley said the base bid for the project was for a little over $600,000 with $200,000 in additive bid items.
The reason the work needs to be done is because the sewer system, as it is currently working, allows infiltration from seepage and groundwater from the ground and roads. Cratsley said this seepage then results in additional processing at the wastewater treatment plant. "Our treatment plant is treating 60-70 percent more water than what is used by our residents. Once the rehabilitation project is complete that should drastically reduce the amount by not treating water that doesn't need to be treated," Cratsley said.
Construction on the sewer rehabilitation project is expected to begin in late March, early April and under the terms of the bid must be complete by November of 2020.
The sewer rehabilitation project along with the recently awarded roughly $1.7 million bid for the Gateway Streetscape Improvement project for Main and Water Streets are designed to reduce the amount of sediment fed into Big Stream.
"Both projects go hand-in-hand in that one deals with stormwater, and the other with waste water, and both are designed to reduce the amounts of nutrients and sediments that go into Big Stream and then as a result Seneca Lake," said Ken Knutsen of Barton and Loguidice, the engineering firm overseeing both projects.
In terms of large municipal improvement projects, Cratsley said he expects this to be the last one until the village bids out for the estimated $8.5 million new wastewater treatment facility and composting facility in late fall, early summer of this year.