County public works staff updated the Board of County Commissioners on a planned assessment of Water District 6’s sanitary sewer/wastewater treatment plant and recommended proceeding toward a contract award with SCJ Alliance after a qualifications review.

Josh Frederickson, public works, said the county solicited a request for qualifications, received three submittals, and a review committee made up of Conference of Governments members, public works representatives and water-district representatives scored and ranked the firms. “We received 3 submittals. Those are scored and ranked, with the recommended company being SCJ Alliance. We've done some work with them in the past,” Frederickson said.

Why it matters: the assessment will determine whether the existing wastewater treatment plant has capacity to support potential future development that county staff said could be a catalyst for economic growth in the Advantage area. The study would identify capacity gaps and recommend infrastructure work or expansions, if needed.

Frederickson asked for direction to prepare the enabling documents and a resolution to award the project to SCJ Alliance for presentation at a future board meeting. No contract was executed at the study session; staff said it would return with the recommended resolution and agreement for formal approval.

The funding source named for the assessment is the county’s 0.09 distressed-county sales-and-use-tax public facilities fund administered through the Conference of Governments; the project had been discussed and recommended at a prior COG meeting.

The review committee and public-works staff will advance procurement and bring a formal contract and resolution to the board if the commissioners direct staff to proceed.