MOUNT VERNON – City Council was not ready to give staff authority to enter into a multi-year sewage sludge removal contract when they weren’t sure about the costs or which method the city may ultimately use.
Councilmember Tammy Woods said during a committee meeting before Tuesday’s special Mount Vernon City Council meeting that she thought everyone knew her aversion to giving authority to go out for bid and enter a contract without knowing the true cost of a project.
Utilities Director Tom Marshall said in discussions with City Engineer Brian Ball they decided it would be best to have two options available to deal with sewage sludge. The city’s consultant, Arcadis, is evaluating alternatives to reconfigure the wastewater treatment plant to deal with the phosphorous issue that put the city into a consent order by the Ohio EPA.
He said one alternative would be to move toward dewatering the sewage sludge and possibly landfilling it instead of applying it to agricultural land.
Woods was among councilmembers not certain that a three-year contract with one company was wise if the city would later decide to change how it handled the sewage sludge.
“I just don’t want council to make a decision that locks us in for three years for something that you might be working away from,” she said.
She suggested the council amend legislation to authorize only seeking bids for the sludge removal and not allowing staff to enter into a contract.
Law Director Rob Broeren disagreed, saying he doesn’t believe the city will get bids or the best bid numbers if companies don’t think the city is serious about entering into a contract.
He said the city uses an engineer’s estimate on the project cost when sending bid packages. If bids propose numbers greater than 10% of that estimate, the city by law can’t award the contract and would have to prepare a new estimate and send it out for bids again.
Councilmember Mike Hillier asked if it was less expensive to dry out the sewage sludge and put it in a landfill.
Marshall said either method has issues. Hauling the liquid sewage sludge is inexpensive.
“The problem with it is that you can only do it when you can get onto the farm fields when the crops are out and the weather’s right,” he said. “We’re making the slush every hour.”
The dry cake would mean less material to haul as the liquid was removed through a filter press. It is a low-cost, reliable solution, Marshall said. But it would require additional equipment that he said would cost $20,000 to $30,000.
Council members agreed to have a second reading of the legislation and get more information before amending and approving it in a third reading.
Fund transfer approved for lime silos
City Council approved legislation to transfer $588,000 in funds.
Marshall said funds would be used to purchase lime storage silos previously approved by council members.
Assistant city engineer’s pay adjustments
Pay for the assistant city engineer would be adjusted under legislation that got a second reading at Tuesday’s special meeting to match city policy.
The employee was hired early in the year near the low end of the $70,000 to $80,000 range approved by the City Council. The legislation would set the salary for next year with a 3% raise. Broeren said when this position was created, it didn’t have the longevity provision adopted for all other management positions. He said this added that provision.
Council makes appointment
Samantha Ramsier was appointed to the local Board of Tax Review for a two-year term.
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Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the sewage sludge.
