ASHLAND - The Ashland Area Municipal Authority is still waiting for a state permit to begin its reservoir upgrade with the anticipation that it will be received within a month or two.
The water authority board received an update at Tuesday's meeting from Alfred Benesch & Co. senior designer Natalie L. O'Connor, engineer in training, on the future approval by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
"DEP has informed us that the review is complete and that all comments are adequately addressed," O'Connor said in her monthly report.
However, there will be one final review by DEP before the project is approved.
"Since there were many revisions (of the plan) over the last several year, DEP wants to confirm that all comments and changes have been incorporated into that final set of drawings and specification that were sent in to their office prior to permit issuance," O'Connor said. "We do see that permit coming in the very near future. We will continue to communicate with DEP and work to move the permit forward."
The planning for the project began about five years ago, and since that time, O'Connor and other Benesch engineers have responded to written reviews on various aspects of the project. followed by plan revisions to meet the engineering requirements as presented by DEP.
The authority is planning DEP-mandated improvements at its reservoir in Butler Township that will raise the crest of the reservoir by six feet above its current height. The improvement will allow the reservoir to hold more than its current capacity of 110 million gallons during major storm events. The increased height will permit large amounts of stormwater to leave the reservoir in a more controlled fashion through the spillway instead of flowing over the dam crest, thereby increasing safety for areas below the reservoir.
The authority is also planning an upstream closure project at the dam in response to another DEP mandate.
Once the project is approved, the next step for the authority is to secure funding from the state Infrastructure Investment Authority.
"The next application cutoff dates for PENNVEST are Aug. 20 for its October meeting and Nov. 12 for the January meeting," O'Connor said. "When the permit is received, the authority will need to move forward with the funding application process prior to bidding. Both of the meetings will probably allow for construction to begin in the spring."
The authority had been approved for a PENNVEST low-interest, 20-year loan of $650,000 about five years ago, but additional requirements mandated by DEP and other work has raised the costs to about $2 million. The deadline to close the loan was extended many time due to the wait for the DEP permit. In 2013, the authority decided to turn down the original loan to apply for a new one so that all necessary work will be eligible for the low-interest financing.
"So you're estimating that $2 million will be enough?" AAMA Chairman Francis Menne asked.
O'Connor said the estimated costs will be determined with a review of the project.
"A lot of things have changed over the last year, and I know that we have updated the cost estimate a number of times," O'Connor said. "It doesn't stop you for asking for more money for other projects if you want to do that. If there are any other major replacements or upgrades at the plant, it would be more cost effective to ask for it all at once."
"What I don't want to have to do is to be in the middle of the project and be short on money," Menne said, expressing his concern that enough funding is requested to take care of the project and some unforeseen costs. "That's why I'm saying to make sure we have enough money to do the project and some additional to deal with contingencies, such as if we run into some hard rock and we need to drill or dynamite."
"We can put everything in the bid that we know about, and ask the contractor to bid on those items. PENNVEST then allows us up to five percent contingency on new construction," O'Connor said.
