The John Day wastewater treatment plant. (Blue Mountain Eagle, file)

JOHN DAY — The John Day City Council has voted unanimously to amend the engineering contract for the wastewater treatment plant project.

The council took the action at its meeting Tuesday, July 8. The amendment has four components and will update the language of the contract to reflect Keller Associates’ responsibilities following the removal of Kennedy Jenks from the engineering contract. The amendment also will allow Keller to shift billing from an hourly rate to a lump sum in an effort to save money on the project.

The amendment also updated the scope of work to include a design for the handling of solid wastes and the final design of a tertiary filter that will remove nitrates from the treated water.

The request for council action highlighted that handling of solid was not in the original contract due to ongoing negotiations with a landowner at the time. And the original contract assumed a design to 30% not knowing whether the filter would be required for water reuse or for the Water Pollution Control Facility permit.

Due to strict nitrate level requirements for the WPCF permit, the filter is required to meet effluent limits.

Jim Pex of Keller Associates said changes to the project’s scope of work were anticipated.

“Neither of them (amendments) are necessarily a surprise,” he said. “It’s just now we have to deal with them going forward.”

The total cost of the scope of work amendment is $353,500.

Pex said Keller Associates has been working to decrease the overall cost of the plant and has saved roughly $1 million off the cost of the project. Pex said those savings are not reflected in the proposed amendment.

Funding update

John Day Grant Manager Nick Ductoe said the state has funded a $5 million request from the city for the wastewater treatment plant project. Ductoe said the funds came following the passage of Senate Bill 5531.

The governor has not yet signed the legislation into law but she is expected to, according to Ducote.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley also put forth a $4.5 million federal request for the wastewater treatment plant. Ductoe said there still is a long way to go before the city contains that funding but stressed Merkley’s request was a good and necessary first step.

The city has requested a $30 million loan from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Although the city has not been approved for the loan yet, Ducote said the plan is to carve out about $550,000 of that $30 million and dedicate it to final design.

“What that does is it moves John Day from a pending application to a project in motion,” he said.

Ducote said the move will help with securing the rest of the loan request in the future were DEQ to run short on funds. In that scenario, John Day would receive priority over everyone else who hasn’t yet started a project.

He also said the funds carved out of the $30 million DEQ loan request will pay for the engineering contract amendment the council approved.