69´«Ã½

Seth Jensen, the city of 69´«Ã½'s director of municipal utilities, and Matthew Marko, director of client services at Brown and Caldwell in Syracuse, provided an update on the project at the 69´«Ã½ City Council meeting Thursday. Construction began in 2023 to upgrade the plant's facilities and add a biosolids dryer for processing sludge. 

The project is on budget and 55% complete, Marko told the council. Two of the three digesters are nearly complete and the blowers have been replaced with new equipment that is more efficient. 

There are 65 construction workers on site daily, according to Marko. Crews are aiming to finish exterior work before winter. 

"They are working very aggressively to get to that point," Marko said. 

An addition to the project is a new overflow retention facility, which helps the plant during high water events. The current overflow retention system was installed when the plant was built in the 1930s.

The average water flow into the plant is 7 to 8 million gallons per day, Marko explained, but can peak as high as 50 million gallons per day during wet weather. The plant is capable of handling up to 25 million gallons per day, but the overflow retention facility is needed for the additional water. 

The cost of the project will range from $9 million to $14 million, Jensen said. The city has more than $13 million in unencumbered funds to finance the construction of a new overflow retention facility. 

Design work began over the summer, according to Jensen, and the next step is to negotiate a change order with the existing wastewater treatment plant contractors. 

"Being able to take advantage of that window of time will save the city, potentially, millions of dollars if we are able to come to an agreement on the price for the change order," Jensen said. 

If the city is successful, construction on the new overflow retention facility would begin in March 2025. It would be substantially completed by summer 2026. 

The new overflow retention facility would be located in existing green space south of a driveway, according to Marko. Other improvements would include a chemical storage building with an electrical room, additional park for staff and visitors, and a truck turnaround. 

The old overflow facility will be demolished after the new one is completed and operational. 

The city is able to advance the overflow retention facility project because of the federal and state funding it has received to support the wastewater treatment plant upgrades. 

A $2 million bond covered the design of the project, which was estimated to cost $36 million in 2021. That projection quickly rose to $84 million due to inflation and other factors. 

In June, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced 69´«Ã½ was awarded more than $91 million — $82 million in financing and grants from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the bipartisan infrastructure law, and a $9 million state grant through the Water Infrastructure Improvement Program — for the wastewater treatment plant project. 

69´«Ã½ Mayor Jimmy Giannettino said at the time the infrastructure law is the city's New Deal. 

The city isn't done seeking funding for the project. Jensen told the council that they are exploring other opportunities, including federal Inflation Reduction Act funds that could be available for the digester portion of the project.