The next phase of New Castle’s long-term control plan, which involves minimizing the amount of storm water being sent to the city’s sewage treatment plant and the amount of sewage that ends up in Big Blue River, will soon be underway following action Monday by the New Castle Board of Public Works.
The board selected Eagle Valley Construction for what’s being called Project 9A at a cost of $6.1 million. It was explained that Lykins Construction, which has done recently-completed phases of the long-term control plan, submitted a lower bid of $5.7 million, but failed to meet bid requirements and was disqualified.
New Castle Director of Public Works Dave Barker explained that Project 9A will channel storm water from near the southeast corner of South Mound Cemetery, at Bundy Avenue, west. A new 48-inch pipe will carry water under Ind. 3 at a depth of nearly 40 feet to the city’s sewer treatment plant.
“This is actually not a separation project,” Barker said. “It’s designed to keep sanitary water (sewage) from going directly to the river when we have an overflow situation there at Bundy.”
The work involved with 9A is expected to begin in late May or early June. Barker said the majority of what’s planned won’t impact traffic on the west side of town because there are no roads between Bundy and Memorial Drive and trenching across Memorial Drive won’t be necessary. County Road 100 South, near the New Castle Community School Corporation’s bus barn, will need to be closed for as long as two weeks, Barker said, but that shouldn’t be necessary until classes have dismissed for the summer.
In a related matter, the board approved a $25,000 invoice from United Consulting for professional engineering services associated with Project 9A.
Also approved was an invoice in the amount of $18,500 from FPBH, a local firm that recently completed an asset management plan for the city.
Mayor Greg York explained that this plan will be helpful in securing funds needed for street maintenance and repair in the future.
“Anytime we apply for a grant, they want to know what our plans are for our roads. This company went out and surveyed the roads, actually measured them so we know exactly how many miles of streets we have, and then graded them for us on a scale of 1 to 10,” the mayor said. “That allows us to build a five-year plan for our roads and to apply for grants we haven’t been able to go after until now.”
The board will next meet at 10 a.m. April 17 in council chambers on the second floor of the city’s municipal building, 227 N. Main St. The meeting is open to all interested persons.
