This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
06/04/2012 12:00 AMOLD SAYBROOK - Contractors' bids to complete upgrades of septic systems in the Saybrook Acres neighborhood (the SA-4 package) are due back to the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) this week. This will be the first of the WPCA septic upgrade contracts in which the licensed septic installers themselves will both design and install each upgrade.
For the first three WPCA contracts for work in Saybrook Acres-the SA-1, SA-2, and SA-3 contracts-the new septic system installations were designed by the consulting engineering firm of Fuss & O'Neill. WPCA Site Manager Mike Evangelisti has said that using licensed septic installers to design and install the systems instead of the consultants should reduce the cost of each septic upgrade.
Next week the WPCA will release for bidding a request for contractor bids to design and install 25 septic system upgrades on properties in the Oyster River (OR-1) neighborhood. In August the WPCA plans to ask for bids to upgrade septic systems on 80 properties in the Cornfield Park neighborhood and 20 properties in Saybrook Point.
In preparation for the septic upgrades that will follow the ones just listed, WPCA surveyors were out in the Cornfield Park and Thompson neighborhoods doing surveys for the bid packages.
Reporting on progress by the WPCA contractors, Evangelisti recently told the WPCA board that Lombardi Sand and Gravel, the WPCA contractor for the SA-1 project, is completing site restoration on the properties. Once the restoration is done, all that will be needed to close out the contract is a written WPCA sign-off.
He also reported that the WPCA contractor MDC continues to install the SA-2 septic upgrades and that Lombardi Sand and Gravel was just beginning its second contract for work this time in the SA-3 neighborhood.
The SA-2 contract includes work to install 23 septic systems upgrades, two of which are considered emergencies because the current septic systems are failing. The residential streets impacted by this contract are Maynard Circle and Farview. The WPCA awarded this contract to the low bidder, MDC Corporation. MDC's bid was to upgrade the 23 septic systems for $252,505.
The contract to complete septic projects on the 24 properties in the SA-3 bundle was awarded to Lombardi Sand and Gravel for a bid price of $394,165.
The SA-3 contract's septic system projects are more complex than those in the SA-2 contract because five of the septic systems in this contract require pumps to move the wastewater. In addition, all but one of the septic systems in this group must be completely replaced rather than just upgraded.
There are 24 residential lots whose septic systems will be replaced under this SA-3 contract; one septic system outside of the SA-3 neighborhood was also included in this bundle. The main residential streets where this SA-3 septic system work will occur are South View Terrace, South View Circle, and part of Crowley Drive.
Evangelisti said that one continuing concern is that WPCA contractors have noticed things missing from their job sites. The WPCA site team has had theft and damage, too. In one incident, a construction site trailer had its door handles broken off and in another a brand-new battery was taken from an excavator.
At the meeting, Evangelisti said of the theft and damage to WPCA equipment, "As a town taxpayer, I find it offensive that we can't store our equipment in a safe place to protect our investment."