Dickinson wastewater plant plans presented

• Wastewater plant plan

Apex Engineering Group Engineer Karla Olson presents plans for the new wastewater treatment facility. Olson said the facility would be complete Sept. 2014 and would cost over $34.3 million.

Talk about it

Engineers presented plans for the new wastewater treatment facility at the Dickinson City Hall Commission Chambers Thursday night. The plans, as presented, looked good, city officials said.

“It depicted what we are looking to do very well,” City Administrator Shawn Soehren said. “It was what I expected.”

The new facility would cost more than $34.3 million, Karla Olson, Apex Engineering Group, said. Apex Engineering Group, Bismarck, is the consultant for the project.

The city has been making plans for a new facility for two years, Olson said. She added the current facility, which is more than 30 years old, has exceeded its capacity and needs to be replaced.

“We are at full capacity,” Olson said. “We are above the design flow. We are really pushing what it can do.”

New tanks and equipments would be purchased for treatment. The facility would also use the existing ponds for peak storage. Olson said the plans are designed for

expansion, keeping in mind that more people are expected to move to Dickinson.

“Part of our plan is to be able to expand it,” Olson said. “If the city (population) is more than 31,000, we can easily expand.”

Soehren said as the city grows so does the demand for a larger facility. He added it is definitely time for improvements and expansion.

“With the growth we’re seeing and the added growth to the area, we are obviously seeing that demand grow,” Soehren said. “It is becoming more and more difficult to keep on top of things.”

Soehren said the biggest concern for the city was to make sure the facility could handle the increase of population.

“We want to make sure we are getting the right plan, the right size of plan,” Soehren said.

Soehren said the city hasn’t heard any concerns about the plans from the public. Arnold Binek, Dickinson, said he liked the plans and the presentation.

“It looks like it is going to be well confined,” Binek “Like any industrial place next to a property is going to be questionable, but I don’t see that it’s going to be that wide open.”

The city has been working very hard on the project, Soehren added, and it wanted to make sure the people are getting what they pay for.

“We want to make sure we are getting a product with the biggest bang for our buck,” Soehren said. “We want to put out a product that will work best for the citizens.”

Sept. 2012 is the date set for completion. Olson said Apex Engineering Group has also been working hard on the project.

“This has been a long process for the city in trying to plan for all the growth,” Olson said. “It is finally coming together.”

Tags: dickinson city commission, wastewater facility, shawn soehren, news