Council introduces wastewater Web page, approves waterline repair

Stock photo | St. George News

CEDAR CITY – Water-related items were again the theme of Cedar City Council’s attention Wednesday at its regular meeting, when the city announced a new Web page devoted to the Cedar City Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility and then heard bids for a waterline replacement under Interstate 15.

Web page

A Web page specific to the Cedar City Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility has been designed by Cedar City intern, Michelle Judd, in the hopes that it will bridge the communication gap between new businesses and the Wastewater Treatment Facility. It is hosted from Cedar City’s website and there is also a link to it on the city’s home page under the Spotlight section about an upcoming sewer line flush in March.

The region includes Cedar City, Enoch City and Iron County, said Peter Sury Cedar City Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility pretreatment coordinator.

There are different Environmental Protection Agency regulations he is required to enforce, he said, and often times they come as a complete surprise to unsuspecting new business owners who are suddenly made aware that they are in violation of the rules. It can make customer relations nightmares for him, he said, and frustrate the business owners who had no idea that, for example, they had to have a grease trap on their waste pipes.

Cedar City Council member Fred Rowley said the Web page is intended to act as a conduit for new and operating businesses to circulate necessary information. Often times, when a frustrated business owner learns of a violation after Sury has paid them a visit, a phone call will be made to the city asking how and why this is happening.

“This will ensure that business owners know what is expected of them when it comes to water treatment in Cedar City,” he said; “we hope, anyway.”

In addition to the Cedar City Wastewater Treatment Ordinance, visitors can find answers to a variety of frequently asked questions, like: Do I need a wastewater discharge permit? Or, how can I be sure I am in compliance with the rules? And, how can I get more information?

Bid awarded for repair of waterline

The City Council heard bids from contractors vying to fix the waterline break at the west end of 400 North that runs through to I-15. The waterline carries a clean water supply to homes and businesses that sit on the west side of I-15, and was built nearly 50 years ago when the Interstate didn’t exist.

Though the fix presented its fair share of problems, council members confidently agreed to a resolution Wednesday by voting to give the job to the lowest bidder, Insituform Technologies LLC, for $141,288, $31,165 less than the next low bidder.

A total of four bids received were presented by Senior Engineer Jonathan Stathis at the Feb 18 City Council meeting, the highest being $196,891.59. At that time the council asked Stathis to come back with more a more developed picture of what each of the four plans he presented would entail.

Stathis presented two options to the council at Feb. 18 meeting. One entailed digging the existing pipe out of where it is and replacing it completely – a difficult task with the active artery of I-15 running above it. The other was to bypass the leak by encasing the waterline in a liner that would seal off the part of the pipe that was leaking and require much less work than a full replacement.

Council members expressed concern that the liner may not offer a long-term solution and could potentially wind up costing the city more money down the road, leaving a problem for future councils to clean up.

After an extensive line of questioning, the council decided Wedenesday that Insituform Technologies had alleviated any stressors they had previously considered, and voted to award it the bid, citing integrity in previous business dealings, and cost-efficiency as reasons to consider new waterline technology as an option.

Related stories

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.