NORTH VERNON — Plans for nearly $14 million in upgrades and improvements to Jennings Northwest Regional Utilities wastewater treatment and collection systems are advancing.
For years the utility, which primarily serves the residents of Country Squire Lakes, has been mired by a malfunctioning wastewater treatment system.
The upgrades aim to remedy those problems.
Jeff Fish, JNRU’s manager reported Friday that the utility has begun accepting bids for these projects and that they are due by 7 p.m. Dec. 14.
Jobs up for bids include improvements to JNRU’s vacuum pump station and vacuum and gravity sewer collection systems, construction of a pole barn for use as a maintenance and storage building and an alarm system for the utility’s 600 valve pits.
Fish said the alarm system will allow JNRU crews to quickly located and address valve malfunctions before they create violations that could draw fines form the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
While the state has yet to approve funding for the alarm project, Fish said it will be impossible to guarantee JNRU operating violation-free without them.
He explained that it is difficult to manually inspect 600 valve pits spread throughout Country Squire Lakes.
Fish expects jobs to be awarded Dec. 21, work to begin in the spring and most everything completed by mid 2011. JNRU also is preparing to replace its original sewer lines laid in the 1970s.
Fish said the lines’ poor condition and placement makes the project a necessity.
All told, the projects will impact the properties of about 70 percent of JNRU’s customers.
The utility currently is working with property owners to address more than 135 right-of-way issues where the laying of new pipes will affect fencing, sheds, garages, decks, landscaping, etc.
In an effort to address the concerns and answer questions, Fish is available at 9 a.m. every Friday at the CSL Clubhouse to meet with JNRU customers.
