FELLSMERE — Water quality in Fellsmere will see an improvement next year after the city’s water treatment plant is expanded. The Fellsmere City Council unanimously approved spending $1.4 million in federal stimulus funds to expand the water facility.
The project would add 1.6 million gallons of water capacity to the water treatment plant. Derrico Construction Corporation, of Melbourne, was the lowest bidder for the expansion, coming in at a little more than $1.4 million. Bids topped out at $1.6 million, according to City Manager Jason Nunemaker.
Originally, the city had expected to pay $2 million for the project, but the sluggish economy has helped to decrease prices.
“Contractors are getting hungrier and hungrier,” said engineer Earl Masteller, of Masteller & Moler Inc.
The city hopes to have the expansion complete within one year of its start.
Masteller told the city council last week that they are working with the Department of Environment Protection, which is administering the stimulus funds. As such, Masteller expects there to be some hiccups during the construction process.
The city will be dealing with several layers of bureaucracy, he explained, and has not had much experience in paying out the stimulus funds.
“They’re sort of breaking new ground,” Masteller said.
Fellsmere City Councilwoman Sara Savage asked if the expansion project would take care of the city’s water quality issues, such as air in the lines and color.
Masteller said that he is not aware of every single quality issue, but that the air in the lines is not because of the water treatment plant. However, the upgrades and expansion of the plant would address the coloration of the water.
“Color will not be an issue,” Masteller said, explaining that the newer system would better handle the chemicals used to address such quality concerns.
The council also asked about the ability of incorporating fluoridation into the water treatment plant project.
Nunemaker said that the city has reached out to DEP regarding adding the fluoride system to the project but has not yet heard back. If approved, the addition could be handled as a change order for Derrico Construction.
“This is our window of opportunity,” he said.
