Newspaper Page Text
The Champion, Thursday, June 18 - 24, 2015
LOCAL
Page 11A
Commissioners
select watershed
project contractor
by Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalbchamp.com
The DeKalb County
Board of Commissioners on
June 9 approved the con
struction contractor for the
largest project in the coun
ty’s billion-dollar watershed
improvement program.
Archer Western Con
struction LLC of Atlanta,
the lowest bidder at $187.9
million, was selected for
the construction portion of
the Snapfinger Advanced
Wastewater Treatment Facil
ities expansion. The 4.5-year
contract consists of blasting
and clearing of rock; con
struction of a retaining wall;
demolition of existing tank
age and equipment; con
struction of the new head-
work, biological reactors,
membrane bio-reactors, and
chemical storage and feed
facilities; modifications to
the chlorine contact basin;
sludge dewatering; sludge
holding tank; and odor con
trol units.
The project was origi
nally bid out in early 2014,
but the process was delayed
by a complaint from a po
tential contractor.
“There was a protest by
one of the contractors say
ing there were irregularities
on the bid day—basically it
was delayed by 15 minutes,”
said Kenneth Saunders, the
watershed departments pro
gram director for the capital
improvement project.
The protest was re
viewed by the county’s legal
department, Saunders said,
which concluded that “we
potentially would be chal
lenged by a lawsuit that
could delay us longer and we
decided to rebid,” Saunders
said.
In September 2014
the watershed department
amended the bid package to
address questions contrac
tors had during the initial
bid process. The revised
invitation to bid was re
leased January 2015. The bid
opened in March and a rec
ommendation was made to
the Board of Commissioners
in May.
One “significant addi
tion to the revised bid pack
age” was the Construction
Activities Mitigation Plan,
said MaLika Hakeem, pro
gram outreach coordinator
for the watershed depart
ment.
“This project will go
on.. .for five years,” Saun
ders explained. “There are
impacts on the surround
ing community. A church,
school and housing are
around the site.. .and Flakes
Mill is a busy roadway.
“While constructing, we
wanted to make sure that we
identify all of those things
that would have impacts on
the community,” he said.
“There are sound barriers
that are on the site. There is
an enhanced effort to miti
gate any issues related to the
blasting that will occur.
“Blasting, sound, light
ing, dust, traffic—we de
tailed that out and looked at
what we can do to mitigate
any impact on the commu
nity,” Saunders said. “For
instance on the sound, there
are limits on even individual
pieces of equipment and the
noise they can emit.”
When the bids came in
during the rebid process,
they were lower because
of “competition,” Saunders
said.
“We got three bids with
in 5 percent of each other,”
Saunders said. “The low bid
was about $5 million less”
than the previous bids.
“We had the same three
bidders. They had a chance
to look at it again and got a
better price,” Saunders said.
“At least we did save some
money.”
In 2010, the DeKalb
County Board of Commis
sioners approved a $1,345
billion upgrade to DeKalb’s
water and sewer system. At
the time, county officials
said approximately $20 mil-
lion-$30 million would be
allocated to address require
ments of a consent decree
in which DeKalb County
agreed to pay a $453,000
penalty from the federal
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) for excessive
sewage spills. The county
also agreed to implement
a $600,000 stream cleanup
project, focusing on de
bris removal from parts
of the South River, South
Fork Peachtree Creek and
Snapfinger Creek.
Saunders said the state
of the Capital Improvement
Archer Western Construction of Atlanta has been selected as the construction contractor for the $187.9 mil
lion Snapfinger Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facilities expansion project.
Workers are set to replace 500 miles of water lines in DeKalb. Photo by Andrew Cauthen
Project (CIP) is “good.”
“We are progressing
in all areas,” he said. “Cer
tainly getting these bids is
on Snapfinger is extremely
important, but we’ve got a
number of other major ac
tivities that are ongoing.”
Saunders said there are
17 waterline projects under
way including projects on
Candler Road, Elam Road
and Flat Shoals Parkway. In
all, approximately 500 miles
of water lines are set to be
replaced.
The county is in the final
stages of selecting a program
manager for the CIP.
“The biggest accom
plishment. . .is that we have
been fully in compliance
with all of the requirements
of the EPA under the con
sent order,” Saunders said.
During a July 17 forum
watershed officials will “lay
out our requirements for
over $40 million in engi
neering and construction
management services as
sociated with the consent
decree and the overall CIP.
“That’s another big piece
of the work that we have to
do,” Saunders said.
Another accomplish
ment has been expediting
preconstruction activities,
such as hiring a construc
tion manager.
“Eighty percent of what’s
going to be spent in this
program is construction. But
I’ve got to have it managed
and designed before I can
construct,” Saunders said.
“Everyone looks for dirt
being turned, but there are
things you have to do on the
front side,” he said.
Although there have
been some delays, they have
not be been “untypical,”
Saunders said.
“I came here April 2,
2012,” he said. “That sum
mer we were supposed to
have done three things that
were significant in terms of
professional services: hire
a program manager for the
consent decree, which hap
pened in April 2014. We
were supposed to have hired
the construction manager
for Snapfinger. That hap
pened in August 2013. That
same summer we were also
See Watershed on page 14A