PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Commission has approved the design phase of a $3 million water plant project.
The board voted 4-0 Tuesday to spend $300,000 to complete 60 percent of the plans for the project to modernize the water plant on Transmitter Road. The measure passed with little fanfare in a sparsely attended, fast-paced meeting. Commission Chairman Guy Tunnell was out of town and did not attend.
The work likely will start in a week or two and will take about five months to finish, said Paul Lackemacher, county Utilities Services director. Once the initial design portion is finished, the construction phase likely will take another year, but it’s too early to give a definitive timeline, he said.
The $3 million will build a filter backwash system, which will include one or two massive tanks holding about 2 million gallons of water. The system would allow solids to settle out, so water can re-enter the purification process. The new system will better handle the solids and save money.
Project funding comes from water rates, not property taxes, Lackemacher said.
“We don’t receive any tax money over here,” he said.
The board awarded the project to Marshall Brothers Industrial Inc. in Lynn Haven in September, which teamed up with area firms GAC Contractors and Preble-Rish Inc. for the work.
The project’s scope and timetable will be difficult to nail down until after the design phase is finished, Lackemacher said.
“It’s a pretty straightforward project; you know, at this point, it’s just getting through enough of the design to feel comfortable (with) what we need to do,” he said.
Lackemacher views the $3 million budget as a “hard and fast” number, which is what the board likes to hear. Commissioner George Gainer said the board would need to sign off on any extra funding.
“When we approved it, we approved it at the $3 million level, so they’d have to have a very, very good reason for it to change,” he said.
Gainer said the project is “necessary” and is running on schedule.
In other business Tuesday, the County Commission:
lExtended its contract with Pensacola law firm Moore, Hill & Westmoreland for $250 an hour; the firm is representing the county against Tyndall Air Force Base in a lawsuit over unpaid water bills.
lAwarded a design/build contract to Panama City firm Shumaker Inc. for $266,994 to complete a new facilities maintenance shop behind the old Cedar Grove City Hall building.
lApproved $1 million neighborhood road paving project to area firm Roberts and Roberts Inc.; the project will pave 5.23 miles in three Panama City Beach subdivisions.