Replacing one of its aging sewer lift stations and repairing two others will cost the town about $10,000 more than anticipated.
“It’s going to be little a more than we thought,” said Heath Springs Mayor Eddie Moore.
The original construction cost was estimated at $490,000, but the low bid of came in at $595,500.
But the town doesn’t have to pay the entire amount for the lift stations – high-voltage pumps that move wastewater uphill.
In 2018, Heath Springs was awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the S.C. Department of Commerce to pay $434,000 toward construction, with the town paying $56,000. The town also must pay about $53,000 in engineering and administrative costs, for a total of about $109,000.
Heath Springs Town Council held an emergency meeting Friday afternoon and unanimously voted to pay an additional $10,000, making its cost $119,000.
The money to pay the match will come from the town’s Emergency Expansion Fund, which contains a little more than $430,000. The town puts $3,000 in the account each month.
The Catawba Regional Council of Governments helped the town get the money for the upgrades. COG helps governments in Lancaster, Chester, Union and York counties identify and receive funding for eligible infrastructure projects.
Grazier C. Rhea, COG community development director, said higher construction bids are affecting everyone in the Carolinas.
“All the contractors are busy, and bids are coming in higher than anticipated,” she said.
Even with the additional $10,000, an additional $95,000 will be needed and Rhea is working with state officials to hopefully come up with it.
There is also a separate wastewater-related project in the works. In February, Heath Springs received a $1.4 million federal grant to upgrade the town’s sewer treatment plant.
By Greg Summers, Staff Reporter with The Lancaster News
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