CLEARFIELD – Clearfield Municipal Authority held a brief meeting yesterday with two major topics discussed: a recent water event and awarding backhoe/dump truck bids for 2017-19.
Engineer Jim Balliet of Gwin, Dobson & Foreman Inc. said the new wastewater treatment plant handled 8 million gallons of flow this past Saturday when between 1-2 million is normal for a day.
This was due to the rains and snow-melt that day. Additionally, a sanitary sewer overflow had to be opened, and this will result in the second fine of the year from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Balliet said a meeting is being scheduled with Lawrence Township, Clearfield Borough, DEP and CMA regarding SSO events as DEP is requiring them to be closed. The borough and township have been working on this for several years now with the biggest problem being inflow and infiltration.
The authority contracts for three years with a contractor for the use of a backhoe and operator, and occasionally for a dump truck and operator, and two bids were received for the contract for the next three years.
The bids came from Kenneth K. Rishel and Sons, the current contractor, and Brian J. Owens Excavating. Owens was the lower bidder with the following bids: $66 per hour for a backhoe, $55 per hour for a dump truck, $68 per hour for 10,000-pound class excavator, $90 per hour for 15,000-pound class excavator and $130 for 30,000-pound class excavator.
However, board members expressed concern regarding switching to a new contractor the authority is unfamiliar with. When asked, Manager John Williams said he had not contacted any of the given references yet.
After extensive discussion the board voted to accept the bids from Owens contingent on reference review and meeting additional requirements, including supplying a list of operators who will be available on-call. The motion included a provision that if Williams is not satisfied the contract will then be awarded to Rishel.
Under the manager’s updates, Williams reported he and another employee have passed the certification test to become licensed water plant operators and will be submitting the results for their licenses.
Also, reactor No.2 at the wastewater treatment plant is online and the contractor began the demolition phase of the project.