Steamboat Pilot & Today

Phippsburg — Under state mandate to bring the Phippsburg Wastewater Treatment Facility up to standards by May 31, the Routt County Board of Commissioners approved a bid for the first phase of improvements Tuesday.

Phase one includes improvements to effluent water processing, replacing all of the plant's electric components and separating chlorine from the rest of the facility as a safety measure, said Routt County Director of Environmental Health Mike Zopf.

Improvements at the Phippsburg Wastewater Treatment Facility were split into two phases because of a shortage of available funds. Duckels Construction's bid, the lowest for the project, came in at more than $336,000.

Duckels Construction is due to begin work on phase one of the improvements - amounting to just more than $221,000 - as soon as possible, Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said.

"We're not contracting for more money than we have," Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said.

In 2006, the town of Phippsburg was awarded funds for the project from the state's energy and mineral impact assistance program under the Department of Local Affairs. The county commissioners acted as the funding agent for the $146,400 grant and $116,000 loan, because Phippsburg has no town government.

The county is seeking $150,000 in supplemental state funding to finish the project, Stahoviak said, though that application will not be considered until later this month.

The plant, which uses a sand-filter system, has not undergone any major renovations since its construction in 1976. Phase one will replace that system with innovative constructed wetlands, Zopf said.

Phase two, replacement of the plant's outfall pipeline to the Yampa River, will ideally be completed by October, Mitsch Bush said.