By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
It’s going to be an expensive project, but there is little choice in what is mostly considered an emergency situation.
An outfall along the St. Marys River bank off First St., behind the onetime Masters Plumbing/Heating building in Decatur, has a check valve which has become inoperable.
Erosion along the river bank – up to 10 feet of erosion – caused the failure, according to city Infrastructure Manager Josh Zimmerman.
When he first brought the situation to the city’s board of works and safety in April, Zimmerman said a heavy rainfall could bring flooding to the downtown area.
The inoperable mechanism pumps overflow water into the river during a heavy rain.
Since the water can’t be moved into the river at this time because of the failed mechanism, the water from a heavy rainfall would back up and rise rather quickly, Zimmerman said earlier.
He brought three quotes to the board of works at its recent meeting and recommended the low bid of $486,791 by Fleming Excavating be accepted. The board did just that.
Two other quotes, from Kokosing and API Group, were considerably higher, nearly 50% higher.
Zimmerman told council he had talked with all three contractors and they all understood what the project entails. He said he was quite comfortable with the Fleming quote.