By Phyllis Schaltenbrand
Donohue & Associates, Inc. recently completed a second opinion Study of the Wastewater Collection and Treatment Facilities Plan Report and they have good news for the City of St. Charles. A previous study by CMT said the city needed to spend $40 Million on upgrades and improvements to the system. Donohue & Associates was able to reduce that number by $12 Million and perhaps even more.
That’s good news for the City Council which had insisted on getting a second opinion before committing to such a major rebuilding of the City’s sanitary treatment facilities. “Through value engineering and experience in the industry, Donohue & Associates were able to save us a vast sum,” explained City Council president Rory Riddler, adding, “Without their help, the Administration was prepared to take what CMT proposed on face value. Sewer rates would have skyrocketed. While we will still need to make major investments in the system, the numbers are more manageable. They have also recommended a phasing program where some of the system upgrades won’t have to take place if growth doesn’t reach the very optimistic goals everyone has set. Long term, there may be even more savings from the CMT plan.”
Councilman John Gieseke, Ward Eight, led the fight for the second opinion study. “If you had a contractor give you a very high estimate on work you were doing to your own home or business, you would get a second opinion. That’s why I pushed to get us a second opinion on these major projects,” Gieseke stated.
Under the previous City Council, CMT (an engineering firm) was hired to do a comprehensive analysis of the City’s sewage treatment system. The contract was somewhat controversial at the time. The firm originally wanted over $900,000 for the study. Councilman Rory Riddler opposed the contract as being out of line with similar studies he said were done in other communities for far less. The contract was shaved by over $500,00 and brought back to the Council, but Councilman Riddler still opposed the hiring of a firm that he said wanted to overcharge the City so badly.
“Donohue & Associates has provided us with these tremendous savings and their contract (less than $30,000) was a fraction of the original cost for the CMT study. Any time you can spend a little to save millions, is a good day for the average citizens who pay the bills,” quipped Riddler.
