Emergency repairs to be made to sewer plant as longterm solutions explored

PAXTON — Emergency repairs will be made to failed components of Paxton’s wastewater treatment plant as longterm solutions are explored, as well, to determine what other upgrades and repairs should be made to improve the plant’s safety and efficiency and maintain its compliance with environmental regulations.

During its monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 9, the Paxton City Council unanimously approved paying up to $64,000 to Champaign-based Clark Dietz for four engineering studies to be completed on the 45-year-old facility on Pit Road just south of town. Clark Dietz Senior Client Advisor Mike Livermore said the first three studies will seek to find solutions for three “emergency repair items,” while the fourth will involve developing a “facility plan” that details the condition of every component of the plant and makes recommendations for their replacement, if needed.

“None of this is going to get any cheaper, and the plant certainly needs to be looked at,” Alderman Mike Wilson, who chairs the council’s finance committee, said prior to making the motion to approve the $64,000 expenditure, which passed 6-0 with Aldermen Kristen Larson and Rob Pacey absent.

Livermore said the emergency projects include the repair or replacement of several broken valves used to drain the plant’s aerators and digesters; a nonoperational control valve used to limit the flow of wastewater to the excess-flow clarifier for primary treatment, disinfection and immediate discharge; and the replacement of the plant’s 40-plusyear old filter control panel, which is no longer functional.

“Between those three emergency repair items, we’ve put engineering costs together that will be approximately right at $19,000 to $20,000,” Livermore told the council. “That does not include construction costs.”

The city’s water and wastewater superintendent, Bob Carleton, said problems at the sewer plant were evident a couple of Fridays earlier, when he received a call from staff saying its digesters were “filling with sludge.” Carleton said city workers pumped down the sludge using a pump on hand, but they could not remove enough to “see the piping and valves in the bottom of it.” Livermore said the replacement or repair of the broken valves causing the issue will be explored as part of one of the emergency studies.

The second emergency study will be on the replacement of the faulty control valve for the excess-flow clarifier, which was installed in 2001 to hold wastewater during “high-flow events,” Livermore said.

“Since the valve is not operational, all of the flow goes immediately to the excess-flow clarifier …,” explained Livermore. “So that means that every time you get a high-flow event from a stormwater current, all of the good bacteria that’s in the plant that’s doing the treating is basically flushed out and the plant has to start again from scratch building up that bacteria so that we can treat within the proper limits.”

The third emergency study will look into solutions for replacing the aging control panel for the plant’s filter system.

“There are not parts available, and it is, right now, no longer functional,” Livermore said. “So, due to that, even though the valves and valve actuators have recently been replaced, the system isn’t working. Basically, no filtration is occurring through those at all. So what we are recommending is, in order to get those filters working again the way they were designed, that we go in and do a much deeper dive into it and provide some recommendations using modern equipment.”

Livermore also recommended a fourth study that would involve creating a “facility plan” after the emergency repairs are completed. According to Livermore, the facility plan would “look at every component of the plant, from start to finish, and detail the shape and condition of each of those (components) and make recommendations to improve or replace them.” The goal would be to determine the “remaining life left in components” and identify those that are unsafe or otherwise in need of replacement.

Livermore noted that a facility plan would be required by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency if the city were to ever apply for funding to replace the plant entirely.

“So it is something that is eventually going to have to be done if, in fact, the plant needs to be updated or improved,” Livermore told aldermen.

Carleton and Livermore both stressed that the plant remains in compliance with all IEPA regulations. Livermore noted that the repairs would “maintain” that compliance with the IEPA while improving the plant’s efficiency.

As part of the first study — on the broken valves for the aerators and digesters — Livermore suggested that a contractor be contacted to inspect the system once the excess sludge is pumped down. The contractor working to build a new wastewater treatment plant in St. Joseph in Champaign County — Schomburg & Schomburg Construction — has already agreed to be available to do so.

“They have agreed that if we can get it to a state of being able to come out and investigate, they will come out and help us figure out exactly what needs to be done,” Livermore said. “And then they can work with the city on an emergency basis, if you choose to do so, and help us provide the construction costs (to fix the problems).”

In response to a question, City Attorney Tony Schuering said he believes revenue generated by the city’s tax-increment financing (TIF) district could be used for “at least some aspect” of the work. Comptroller/Treasurer Tammy Jensen said the city’s replacement/improvement fund contains $630,000 that also could be used to help fund it.

Other business

Also during the council’s July 8 meeting:

Mayor Bill Ingold introduced Clay Johnson, an intern with the Springfield law firm Brown Hay & Stephens and an aspiring municipal lawyer, who was shadowing the city attorney.

The council unanimously approved the city’s annual appropriation ordinance for the fiscal year that began May 1, showing up to $9.55 million in potential expenditures. Jensen said the ordinance sets maximum spending levels for the city’s accounts, typically amounting to 10% more than the city has budgeted. “I feel like we were able to pretty well balance everything out with each of the different department heads,” Jensen said.

The council unanimously approved a new contract with the Paxton Buckley-Loda school district that allows for Paxton police officer Brandon Ryan to continue serving as a school resource officer at PBL for three more years. Police Chief Coy Cornett said the contract is unchanged from the first one, requiring the school district to pay 75% of the officer’s “total cost,” including his salary, benefits and insurance. Ryan will work at PBL High School when school is in session and still be available for regular city patrols during winter, spring and summer breaks. Wilson said the arrangement has worked out well so far. “By all accounts, it’s been a great program for the school and the city,” Wilson said. “So this is something that I think we certainly should continue.” The contract runs from May 1, 2025, through April 30, 2028, Cornett said.

Jensen said the city’s annual audit has been completed, and she expects auditors to present a report to the city council “in the next two months or so.” Jensen said a “quick questionnaire” was sent to aldermen as part of the audit, and she encouraged those who had not yet returned their responses to do so, and she will forward them to the auditors.

Jesse Houtzel, superintendent of the streets and alleys department, said his crew began working on a “curb project” in the 300 block of East Franklin Street and was expected to remain busy on that project for a week or two. Houtzel also thanked the Knights of Columbus for picking up trash following Fourth of July festivities at Pells and Bixby parks. “They did a good job cleaning up,” Houtzel said. “It saved us

a lot of time on Monday morning.”

Carleton thanked Houtzel and his crew for helping with upgrades made recently to the water department’s trailer, including the addition of new interior and exterior lighting.

Cornett said the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Illinois passed through Paxton last month, with more runners taking part in the local stretch of the event than in all but one other stretch of the event’s leg that went from Chicago’s South Side to Bloomington. “We had something like 30, 35 runners in it,” Cornett said. “We also had a huge amount of public support that had tons of people on Market Street lining the roads and cheering on the runners. It was a real good turnout.”

Cornett said that he and Paxton police officer Carlos Colon staffed an informational booth on the Fourth of July at Pells Park, where they gave away items to kids. Children also got the chance to check out Colon’s squad car — sirens, lights and all — plus various police items like a battering ram and shield, Cornett said. “The kids had a good time out there,” Cornett said.

Cornett said the police department has ordered another 100 pink patches with the department’s emblem and is selling them for $10 apiece to raise funds for the Pink Patch Project’s breast cancer awareness initiatives. Among an initial 100 pink patches purchased, 86 were sold while the other 14 were kept for use by local officers on their uniforms during Breast Cancer Awareness Month every October, Cornett said. The initial sales resulted in a $579 donation to the Pink Patch Project, Cornett said. Police officer Tom Sink designed Paxton’s pink patches, which were purchased using impound fee revenue, not taxpayer dollars, Cornett noted.

Livermore said a bid opening for road maintenance projects this summer resulted in two bids being received — one for $248,000 from Iroquois Paving and the other for $458,000 from Cross Construction. With $294,000 in Rebuild Illinois grant funds available to be used toward the work, Livermore said a change order was made to the construction contract awarded to the low bidder, Iroquois Paving, to increase the contract amount by about $66,000 — to $314,534 — and “increase the thickness of the asphalt on South Market Street so that it will be a little more fortified of a road, given the commercial traffic there.” Livermore said the Illinois Department of Transportation has approved the use of all $294,000 in Rebuild Illinois funds for the project, covering most of its cost. Livermore said he was working with Iroquois Paving to get construction started soon.

The council unanimously approved a resolution stating the city’s intent to vacate a public alley abutting Cherry Street to accommodate the proposed construction of a new gas station with a fast-food restaurant at the site of a long-shuttered car wash. The city’s vacating of the alley is required because the developers plan to use the area for parking spaces or a driveway. The utilities buried there have been relocated, the council was told, while the existing sewer pipe will remain. The city will maintain an easement in the event any work needs to be done. According to Schuering, the resolution represents “the city’s token of good faith” to vacate the alley, which will require a public hearing before it becomes official.

After meeting for two-plus hours in open session, the council met in closed session to discuss specific employees, with no action taken after the meeting was reopened to the public.

The council’s next regular monthly meeting was set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12, at City Hall, 145 S. Market St. It is open to the public.