SOUTHWICK – DPW Director Randy Brown indicated that bids for the installation of a new water main and pump station on the northern end of College Highway near the Westfield line have been submitted and officials will soon be awarding the contract.
The current pipeline is facing issues that need to be addressed.
“It’s had its fair share of breaks and leaks the past few years,” said Brown.
Southwick DPW Director Randy Brown. (WNG File Photo)
The pump station is currently located on College Hwy just south of Wynnfield Circle and the new pump station will be about 2,000 feet north on Jarry Drive, right near the Westfield line. With an increased capacity, the new pump station will be able to draw more water from Springfield Water & Sewer, giving town residents a second water supply in case the town water supply ever happens to be out of service.
According to Brown, replacing the water main as well as the pump station is projected to cost a total of at least $4 million.
“It’s one of the biggest projects that this town has undertaken in quite some time,” said Brown.
The town is planning to bond the cost of the project. While there hasn’t been a discussion yet for how many years the bond could be, Brown said that possible options for the bond will be talked about in the near future.
This project was made possible when two different warrant articles were passed at the last two annual town meetings. At the annual town meeting in May of 2017, Article 9 passed, which was to see if the town would appropriate $3,260,000 for the water main replacement on College Hwy. During the annual town meeting in May of 2018, Article 8 passed as it was to see if the town would appropriate $1,700,000 for the construction of a new pump station.
Brown said that later this week, both the Select Board and the Water Commission will have the opportunity to sign off on the bid proposal and then ultimately award the project to a contractor to conduct the work. It will not be announced who the bid is being awarded to until the Select Board signs off on it on Tuesday.
