By Ralph Echtinaw

Does the federal government throw money around, or what?

Thanks to Velsicol plant contamination, the US EPA will spend $2.8 million to extend city water to nine homeowners in the Orchard Hills subdivision this year.

The nine homes are on well water presently, and EPA officials believe the water may become contaminated thanks to the nearby Velsicol burn pit.

City council voted unanimously on Tuesday, April 18, to award the job to Malley Construction for $2.3 million. Also bidding was Crawford Contracting ($2.8 million).

“We believe this will be a very challenging project,” said Brian Poultney of Spicer Group, a civil engineering firm involved with the project (to the tune of $516,000).

Work should begin May 1 and continue through Sept. 15.

The existing water main under Fox Drive will be replaced and upsized to an 8-inch main. The main will be extended north on Orchard Court.

Of the nine houses to be connected, eight are on Orchard Court. One is on Wilson Drive. 

Asked why this job is so challenging, City Manager Kurt Giles said this via email: “Our current economic environment makes many projects this year a challenge.  The schedule depends on availability of required materials and well as the ability to obtain those materials in a timely manner to meet the schedule. Construction within established neighborhoods also creates challenges as services and access must be maintained, while buried utilities can create challenges if they are found to not be where the designer was expecting them to be.”

Giles continues: “The installation of the water main and the required service connections will cause removal of some portions of Fox Drive, Wilson Place, Wilson Drive and Orchard Court. Construction traffic along these roads could also cause some damage. The project anticipates damage along these routes and will ‘crush and shape’ the materials once the utility installation work is completed and then repaved them with three and a half inches of asphalt pavement.”