Coulee Dam sewer component over $900k

A “lift station” revamp to get west Coulee Dam’s sewage across the river to the city’s new wastewater plant was bid at $906,000, the city’s engineer reported Monday.

Engineer Daniel Cowger of Varela Engineering recommended accepting the lowest responsive bid, submitted by Strider Construction, of Bellingham, Washington.

The council accepted the bid, noting the city would be pursuing extended funding through a grant proposal Cowger recommended.

The city council was wary of a long entanglement with another west-side outfit.

City Councilmember Keith St. Jeor cited the barely concluded wastewater plant contract with another company from the west side of the state that took over five years to conclude what he said should have been a six-month job.

Cowger said last month he thought that now that the long wastewater treatment plant project was complete, a funding offer could be feasible from the federal Dept. of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency.