Public works staff told the Westville Town Council that the town’s Columbia water-plant project has reached a 60% design milestone and land acquisition for new wells is proceeding, while upgrades at the wastewater plant are about 99% complete.

The update matters because the new plant and supporting mains are intended to serve a large new customer and improve system redundancy, staff said. The projects include new water mains, reuse capability at the wastewater plant and generator redundancy.

“Biggest item was, we continue to work with Bowen McMahon on designing the planning of the new water plant... McMahon... sent out the 60% design for the new water plant. I reviewed it today... it looks like a very, very good facility,” said Public Works staff. Staff said land acquisition for new wells is underway and that the old water main from Valparaiso Street has been abandoned in sections.

Staff reported supply-chain delays on service saddles and said pavement repairs will follow once crews receive parts. Work at the Mount Gray/Oakwood Road intersection will require another dig to abandon an old line and disconnect parts of the system; staff described that excavation as “extremely complicated and difficult.”

A generator from the decommissioned wastewater plant was moved to serve as a temporary backup at a lift station but is beginning to show age; staff said the new facility will include two generators sized for redundancy. At the wastewater plant, a newly installed reuse skid will allow filtered effluent to be used for washdown and certain chemical-feed systems. Staff stated the reuse could save “tens of thousands” per day but did not specify the unit in the meeting transcript.

Directional boring and locating problems were raised as ongoing operational issues. Staff said contractors’ locating mistakes and a failure to locate an existing line required many staff hours to correct; the town intends to assign GIS responsibility to Aaron Flowers to improve mapping and record-keeping. Staff also reported that final clarifiers received new paint after a galvanizing failure by a supplier.

Discussion only: council members asked clarifying questions about sequencing, restoration and contractor oversight, but no formal council action was taken on the projects during the meeting. Staff identified Bowen McMahon as the engineering partner on the water plant and said McMahon would be part of future coordination on designs and mapping.

The town will continue design reviews with Bowen McMahon and follow up on contractor performance, locating practices and parts procurement as the projects move toward final design and construction.