By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
GENEVA — The engineering nightmare on Elm Street is over, Geneva City Manager Jim Pearson said, as the city’s loan for the sanitary sewer rehabilitation project is secured.
Problems with the $477,000 project began in September, Pearson said, when a miscommunication between engineering specifications and potential contractors caused project bids to come in $100,000 over initial estimates.
“But once the engineers began to look into the reasons for this, they found that the contractors were concerned about an extra fixture for the laterals, that would cost just about $100,000,” he said.
Pearson said the problems with Elm Street project, which is funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, was fixed with a special grout that will cost far less than the problematic fixtures.
The city also obtained a 20-year, 1 percent interest loan from the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund for the balance of the project, Pearson said, and officials will meet join for a pre-construction meeting to determine the project start date.
The Elm Street project will help control inflow and infiltration to 88 houses or points of inflow and infiltration in the area, Pearson said.
