Kalispell City Council poised to fast track sewage plant upgrades
Car and truck traffic passes through the entrance and exit station at the county landfill on March 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Kalispell city councilors appeared in agreement Monday to adopt a plan to fast-track upgrades to the municipality’s wastewater treatment plant and could vote on it as soon as Council’s next meeting.
The plan would help the city meet a fast-approaching deadline to complete the construction as it struggles to find an interested contractor, according to municipal Public Works officials.
Kalispell’s treatment plant currently sends over half its biosolids to Glacier Gold Composting and the rest to the Flathead County Landfill. But with the composting facility in Olney closing its doors, the city will eventually need to send all its sewage to the landfill.
To do that, the city must first pay for facility upgrades and new equipment to adhere with the landfill’s standards. Glacier Gold has agreed to remain open until the city can make the necessary revamp, which is expected to be completed September 2026.
Historically, when the city undertakes projects, it uses a linear method of hiring an engineer for construction design, bidding for a contractor and then selecting the lowest bidder. While the method can usually bring about the lowest costs, it can also draw out the project timeline.
A contractor may also underestimate their costs to look appealing and after being hired, claw back money through change orders, according to Scott Bueker, project manager with AE2S, an engineering consulting firm hired by City Hall.
The recommended alternative plan would lock in a contractor earlier in the project design phase, shrinking the construction timeline and encouraging collaboration. An agreement between the city and the contractor would also stipulate the maximum price the city would pay for the project.
The new and upgraded equipment has a projected cost of $6.8 million, according to a report issued by AE2S.
Councilor Sid Daoud said that he predicts the project method will eventually become the norm.
“All our capital projects actually should run this way,” he said.
The move away from composting biosolids also comes in part from concerns over PFAS, or forever chemicals, in the city’s sewage sludge. The pollutants can contaminate the product and pose health risks to humans.
Unlike in drinking water, PFAS in biosolids is not federally regulated.
Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@dailyinterlake.com.