Thursday, August 1. 2024–3:45 p.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
The Rome City Commission could vote on the location of a new reverse osmosis water treatment facility during their next meeting.
On Thursday, the city’s water and sewer committee recommended that work proceed on the previously announced Riverside Parkway site. Commissioner Randy Quick made the motion and Commissioner Jim Bojo, who chairs the committee, seconded. Both voted in favor, while Commissioner Bill Collins, the third member of the committee, said he still wasn’t sure it was the right location.
In January, during a retreat, the city commission decided to tap the brakes on the project to reevaluate the location. The project has been idle since then—nearly seven months.
Settlement funds from a lawsuit filed by the city against carpet manufacturers, chemical companies, and others that will pay for the new facility that will remove PFAS and other chemicals from the local water supply. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are widely used to make carpets and other items stain-resistant. The chemicals have been linked to numerous adverse health impacts.
Rome Water and Sewer Division Director John Boyd reminded the committee that they are facing a deadline of April of 2029 before running the risk of being cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when new water quality standards, which are essentially zero-tolerance for PFAS, start being enforced.
“One thing I would like to emphasize is that we can’t continue to kick this can down the road,” he said. “Do we want to be the community that was awarded funds and had been working on the project for eight months, and not meet the deadline?”
Bryan Pate with InSite Engineering, who has been working with the city on the project, told the committee that only two sites they looked at were feasible– Riverside Parkway and the public works site on Vaughn Road.
Although the guaranteed maximum price has not been set, the numbers presented during the meeting showed the public works site would cost $47 million more than the Riverside Parkway site.
The estimated cost for engineering and construction for Riverside Parkway is $194,500,000 with a $31-million contingency for unexpected costs, for a total of $226 million. However, Pate expects that number to be revised downward.
“We will continue to refine that budget as we go,” Pate said. “We know the major scope of the project, but as we get further down into what types of pumps and membranes we are going to put in, those prices begin to narrow down. All those things will happen before we execute a construction contract.”
Meanwhile, the estimated cost for the public works site is $204,500,000, with $31 million in contingency, plus $1 million for property acquisition, $29,500,000 for public works relocation, $150,000 for environmental investigation, $2,500,000 for environmental remediation, and $4 million for demolition. That total is $273,150,000.
“I have real heartburn about having to spend an extra $50 million,” Bojo said.
As far as the timeline, Pate told the committee by fast-tracking the schedule, construction at the public works site could be completed by the deadline, but they don’t know what obstacles may arise.
“A lot of things have to go right,” he said.
Commissioner Wayne Robinson told the committee he still opposes the Riverside Parkway site, favoring private development in the area.
“We haven’t done any kind of analysis on what a development on Riverside would generate in tax revenue,” he said. “This project is going to be done in 2029 and we’re saddled with something that is going to be there forever.”
Robinson asked if property at the water reclamation facility on Blacks Bluff Road would be an option. Boyd stated that the property is in the floodplain and would need some land for future expansion.
The recommendation from the committee to proceed with the Riverside Parkway site is expected to go to the full city commission for their August 12 meeting. A caucus presentation is also scheduled.
“Whatever is decided, I just ask that everyone gets behind it,” Boyd added.