Sewer work to start today

Sewer work to help alleviate flooding in a west side Portland neighborhood was scheduled to begin today.
Portland Board of Works on Thursday approved for two companies to clean and televise city sewer pipes and replace catch basins.
With the recommendation of Brian Houghton, owner of Jones & Henry Engineers, the board unanimously approved for Culy Contracting of Winchester to clean and televise clogged sewer pipes at a cost of $16,600 and Watson Excavating of Redkey to replace 10 catch basins, two manholes and 200 feet of new sanitary sewer line on North and Race streets between Pleasant and Middle streets.
The board signed an agreement for Culy Contracting to begin cleaning and televising the pipes today. Watson Excavating, according to Houghton, will not begin working on city property until sometime in December.
The board — Bill Gibson, Jerry Leonhard and Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman — also approved for Wessler Engineering of Indianapolis to develop a map of city water mains, valves and hydrants.
Water superintendent Doug Jackson said the existing records on water main locations are obsolete and full of errors. He expressed relief the project was finally going forward.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Jackson. “There’s a lot of field work that needs to be done and it’s time consuming. It’s an ongoing process — it’s not going to happen overnight. The last thing you want to do is put some incorrect information on a map.”
Wessler requested $23,000 for the first part of the project, which will include acquiring information to verify water main locations in the city to create a map, according to senior project manager Stanley Diamond.
Phase two entails providing ongoing services to get any additional information to be given to Jackson for the map’s development at an additional $25,000.
Wessler building development representative Linda Sanders said the company hopes to start the project sometime next week. Jackson hopes to have the project complete within two years.
Geesaman requested the company provide updates every six months. In other business, the board:
•Opened bid prices for petroleum and asphalt for 2016. The board will choose the lowest bid at the December meeting.
•Approved taking part of Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. filtering system test. The company offered the city the opportunity to be part of a pilot test for a single-unit mobile disk filter that could be used to directly treat the combined sewer overflows. Houghton said the filter has the ability to decrease the amount of suspended solids in the water. Bob Brelsford of the Wastewater Treatment Plant said he plans to place the filter in a garage north of the parking lot of the treatment plant’s administrative building. The company will bring the filter within two to three weeks and it will remain at the plant for about three months. Through this trial, Aqua-Aerobic Systems will have to prove to Indiana Department of Environmental Management the disk filter works before it can begin to sell the product.