Wilson Brothers Construction workers Steve Keele (right) and Ralph Miller prepare to place a section of sewer pipe into a trench box Tuesday as work continues on the Town of Deaver Sewer Replacement Project.
By David Peck
A little less than a year ago, around March, Deaver mayor Rod Wambeke read a weekend article in the Billings Gazette about how federal stimulus money – the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – was making a difference in Montana communities.
“He left it on my desk,” in essence asking if Deaver could benefit from the program, clerk/treasurer Vana Camp said. The town was badly in need of a new sewer system.
Camp called the Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board on Monday, but the agency was so swamped with similar calls that she had to leave a message on voice mail. A staff member returned the call a couple of days later and informed Camp that the town had only until the end of the week to apply.
That sent the town into a scramble mode. The town worked with engineer Willie Bridges of Pryor Mountain Engineering to formulate an estimate of the project cost so the town could be placed on the ARRA Wyoming priority list by Friday.
“Everyone was rushing to put an estimate together to make the deadline,” Camp said. “It had to be shovel-ready, which meant permits would be easier to get. We were just replacing an existing line.”
Deaver made the priority list, but there was lots of work yet to be done to obtain the ARRA grant.
SLIB was a big help, she said.
“Wyoming is just wonderful,” Camp said. “They want you to succeed. They want you to get these grants. They point you in the right direction.”
Also helpful as the process continued was grants coordinator Linda Harp and assistant Stefanie Padilla, Camp said. There was lots of paperwork to submit for the grant application, and SLIB notified the town when something was needed.
With everything in place, Mayor Wambeke attended the ARRA funding meeting in Cheyenne on May 12, and the Town of Deaver Sewer Replacement was funded on a 100 percent grant basis.
“That was wonderful,” Camp said.
Bridges said the project was a natural because Deaver was already on the Wyoming Dept. of Environmental Quality’s list of projects that needed to be completed.
The project, replacing the entire collection system for the Town of Deaver, was badly needed, Bridges said, because the old system was built with old clay pipe, which was deteriorating.
The funding did not become available until the end of June or first of July, Bridges said, and after the engineering and design process, a bid letting was held on Nov. 24 with Wilson Brothers Engineering as the low bidder.
The town received a grant for around $1.1 million, and the Wilson Brothers bid came in at $792,155, Bridges said, so the town had to give some of the money back to the ARRA fund.
The project
Construction on the sewer replacement began on Jan. 5, Bridges said, with the construction crew working their way uphill (west) from the last manhole before the town sewer lagoons east of town through the entire length of the community. The project is replacing mostly sewer mains, with lines going toward residences and businesses only as far as necessary to hook into service lines.
The crew is required by contract to have everything hooked back up by the end of a work day, running a temporary line if needed, Bridges said.
“They’re making good progress for the time of year it is,” he said. “They use some large ground heaters to eliminate as much of the frost (in the ground) as they can at each segment. They’ve had some problems with frost.”
The contract allows work to continue until the end of June, Bridges said, but Wilson’s goal is to finish up by the middle of April, he said.
“They’d like to be done by irrigation season when the ground water comes up,” he said.
As he followed his crew’s progress, Kim Wilson said the project is a difficult job, but one they can certainly handle.
“This job is a tough job,” he said. “It’s not made for beginners, by any means. There are so many utilities like gas and telephone so close. The alleys are so narrow. We’re just sneaking by all the time, but we’re equipped for it. We have the narrow buckets.
“We’ve had tougher jobs, but not many.”
Camp said the community is thrilled to have a new sewer system, and the town is thrilled to have the 100 percent grant.
“It’s been one of the most exciting things to happen to Deaver,” she said. “I’m Glad Rod saw that article. When they said it would be 100 percent (grant funded), we were just flying around here.