Five bids, ranging from $884,000 to $1.65 million, were submitted to the Coeur d’Alene Wastewater Department for the Mill River Station upgrade project. Director Mike Anderson told the General Services/Public Works Committee on Monday that he selected Big Sky ID Corp. as the general contractor. 

“The bid went out per Idaho code — we've got several bids — and Big Sky came in at the lowest,” Anderson said. “This is part two of the Mill River Lift Station project. We had already built the station, but not to full scale. The original building was smaller because of the way the pumps worked — it wasn’t efficient to run it with bigger pipes and bigger pumps when there wasn't a lot of flow.” 

Anderson said his department implemented a Mill River surcharge fee to people who were connecting to the Mill River Pump Station, because he knew at some point they were going to “build this thing out.” 

Anderson said the station's redesign will make it more efficient. According to a city report, the Mill River Lift Station project reflects a phased approach to infrastructure development.

"We’re going to add a larger pipeline coming into the station from a different direction that will allow us to bypass current pumping, get in there and change things and put a plug in the line,” Anderson said. “Then we’ll dig a larger manhole and drop in a bigger pump, and pump around the lift station, which allows us to maintain it, which is critical, especially with the proximity right along the river, and we want to make sure we're protecting the environment.” 

The total cost of the station upgrade, including the engineering component, is $1.2 million. 

“For this fiscal year, we budgeted $900,000 for the project, and the City Council approved it,” Anderson said. “I'm going to ask you to spend $1.2 million by the end of the year. So obviously, if awarded, we'll be coming forward in August or so to do a budget amendment to bring this budget line up a little bit.” 

Anderson said last year his department underspent its budget by $315,000, so the added expense for the lift station upgrade is pretty much a wash. 

“So, everything's aligned really well for this project,” Anderson said. “As well, the Mill River surcharge funds are about $419,000. Any new connections made will also be paying that Mill River surcharge fee until this is fully paid off.” 

Committee member Christie Wood motioned that the City Council accept the bid and approve a construction contract with Big Sky ID Corp for the Mill River Lift Station upgrade project. Committee member Dan English seconded.