City hires firm for plans

An engineering firm will develop plans for treating wastewater and helping the flow of storm water in Portland.
Portland Board of Works on Thursday approved contracts for work on the city’s wastewater system and open bids for road paving.
Brian Houghton of Jones and Henry Engineers presented preliminary plans for making expansions and improvements to the city’s aging wastewater treatment plant. The contract, not to exceed $258,000, would pay for detailed engineering plans to build new final tanks, add equipment for phosphorous removal and expand the existing aeration tanks.
Superintendent of wastewater treatment Bob Brelsford said some of the equipment at the wastewater treatment plant is from the 1950s, and much of it needs to be brought up to new state standards. Portland was fined $6,000 in 2015 for violating the Indiana Department of Environmental Management limits on ammonia and pollutants being discharged into to Salamonie River. The city also violated limits five different times from 2012 through 2014. Too much ammonia can contribute to the growth of algae, killing the river’s fish.
Board members Mayor Randy Geesaman, Bill Gibson and Jerry Leonhard approved the engineering contract.
Houghton said he hopes the plan will be done by the end of the fall and that permits can be acquired by this spring. He estimated construction on the project, if the city chooses to move forward, to cost $3.3 million.
The board also approved a proposal from Houghton for an engineering contract for plans to add an additional sewer line along Harrison Street. The engineering designs would lay out specifications for a line that would be built to receive sewage and drainage water from lines west of Harrison Street in an effort to take pressure off the Millers Branch line, which has contributed to the city’s flooding issues.
“This line should greatly help alleviate the flooding in the downtown area,” Houghton said.
During heavy rain, the current sewer line is unable to handle the amount of water the flows into it from Millers Branch, a waterway that begins northeast of the city and enters the sewer system near Pearl Street. As a result, water backs up through sewer lines and floods streets in the downtown area as it did three times during the summer of 2015.
The board approved the $38,500 contract to create the plans.
The board also opened bids for future paving projects in Portland. The low bid, from Milestone Paving of Portland, came in at $193,931.25. The other bid from Brooks Construction of Fort Wayne came in at $210,470. Both contracts would cover eight future paving projects. The board decided to table a decision on the contracts and revisit them at a meeting Thursday.
Board members also heard a proposal from Brelsford to buy a new skid loader for use at the wastewater treatment plant. He had two quotes, and the board chose to go with the lower quote of $35,900 from K and L Construction. The deal includes trading in the plant’s old skid loader to acquire the new one.