GATESVILLE – Nearly two full years after agreeing to purchase two tracts of land on Cotton Gin Road to build a new wastewater treatment plant and adjoining sprayfield, the Gates County Board of Commissioners have selected a contractor to perform that work.

At their meeting earlier this month, the board voted without objection to award two contracts, both to Enviro-Tech Unlimited Construction Services, LLC located in Harbinger (Currituck County).

Contract #1 is for $588,187.50 to construct a sewer pump station on Honeypot Road and for the installation of force main sewer lines.

Contract #2 is $1,901,595.25 for the construction of the wastewater treatment plant and sprayfield on Cotton Gin Road.

While Enviro-Tech’s combined bids of $2.49 million was lower than that of a second possible contractor – T.A. Loving Company of Goldsboro – this stage of the project came in at nearly $270,000 over what was estimated by the county’s engineering firm, Municipal Engineering, in June of this year.

T.A. Loving submitted a combined bid of $2.96 million ($639,817 for contract #1 and $2,322,000 for #2).

The total project, which includes $1.84 million the county has already expended as of Aug. 10 of this year, is $4.27 million. That price tag also includes $350,000 the county paid in late 2015 to purchase 89 acres of land on Cotton Gin Road owned by Jill B. Lang.

Other major cost factors include $780,587 for engineering/construction costs in Phase 1 of the project, $165,500 for design, $160,000 for construction and grant administration, $120,000 for construction observation, and $111,225 for hydrogeologic/technical services.

To date, the county has been awarded $2.15 million in grant funding for the project ($900,000 from the EDA; $700,000 from the NC Rural Center; $350,000 from CDBG; and $200,000 from the Golden Leaf Foundation).

The county will cover the remaining costs of the project….an estimated $2,121,250. Taking into consideration the $1.84 million already spent, the county still has obligate roughly $281,000 of taxpayer funds to complete the project.

“We’re finally getting to the point where we will actually begin to move a little dirt,” said Michael McAllister, the project’s engineer, referencing the awarding of the two latest contracts.

McAllister said he checked with other government entities that had used Enviro-Tech for their projects and were pleased.

“They do good work,” he said, adding that the company has been in business for approximately 30 years.

He voiced his pleasure in the bid offered by Enviro-Tech, saying that construction companies throughout the state have been busy in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew last year and that costs for materials and labor are “high at this moment.”

The treatment plant, sprayfield, pump station, sewer forced mains and other piping will serve an area along US 158 between Central Middle School and Eason’s Crossroads. It will accept wastewater from Gates County High School, Central Middle School, the Gates County Community Center, the Gates County Emergency Management Center (at the old prison site), NC DOT facility, and the businesses located in the Merchants Commerce Center.

This sewer system replaces one used by the old state prison, which was transferred to the county’s ownership and usage when that correctional facility closed. Due to its age and deteriorating condition, the old treatment plant/sprayfield was only capable of handling 15,000 gallons per day of wastewater. The new one, with an enlarged sprayfield, is estimated to handle up to 50,000 gallons per day.