Committees told of plans for Bucyrus sewer separation

By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com

Members of Arcadis met with the Bucyrus Finance and Service Committees Monday evening to discuss the Buffalo Run sewer separation project.

Arcadis engineers Tina Wolff and Brian Bass and Bruce Bandstetter of Brandstetter and Carroll discussed submitting plans to the EPA for a project that would split the sanitary and storm sewers on Plymouth Street, along the Buffalo Run, and southern trunk sewer systems. That project’s completion date is Dec. 31, 2021.

During the meeting Wolff explained that the Plymouth Street sewer separation project would occur during the reconstruction of Plymouth Street by ODOT in 2015 at a reduced cost to the city of $700,000, and would be the first phase of the seven-year $8.4 million project that would also assign $200,000 per year, or $1.2 million, as an unassigned reserve for future or emergency projects of the city’s sewer system.

Bass discussed four different options of fixed fees and fixed fees with rate increases that would then end in 2021 that would cover the cost. Of the options given both committees approved of a fixed fee of $7.20 with an annual rate increase of 3 percent that would take place from July of this year through the end of the 2021 fiscal year.

The project would then include a pre- and post-construction analysis of the flow monitor data of each leg of the separation project.

Both committees agreed for the plans to be submitted to the EPA for approval.

The Safety Committee also approved City Safety/Service Director Jeff Wagner enter and negotiate contracts for the city on behalf of the Safety Committee.