Bend Council gives final okay to key infrastructure investments

The Bend City Council took action on February 19 to move ahead on two high priority water and sewer projects.

First, the Council voted to approve a contract with M.A. Mortenson Construction to build the new membrane system that will filter Bend’s drinking water. The contract has a “guaranteed maximum price” of just under $24 million that cannot be exceeded without Council approval.

The drinking water filter plant meets a federal standard that protects public health from infection caused by Cryptosporidium, a potentially fatal parasite. This is the same pathogen that sickened two dozen residents in Baker City last year.

The membrane technology will also make it possible to operate the water filtration plant even in if there is a fire in Bend’s forested watershed or in case of heavy rainfall, due to high levels of silt in the water. Other treatment methods would require shutdown under those conditions.

Last Friday, a federal judge refused to further delay construction of a ten-mile long drinking water pipeline that will replace two existing pipelines that date from the 1920s and 1950s. The replacement pipeline will connect the new membrane filtration facility to Bend’s main Bridge Creek water source. Construction is expected to begin immediately to take advantage of cost savings made possible by coordinating installation of the pipeline with Skyliners Road reconstruction being planned by Deschutes County.

A second action by Council on Wednesday approved a $2.2 million contract with Murray, Smith and Associates for final design and construction support for the Colorado Lift Station and associated piping.

The lift station will house large pumps that convey untreated wastewater from the westside through pressurized and gravity pipelines to Bend’s wastewater treatment plant near the airport. The facility addresses some of Bend’s most urgent sewer capacity issues for the westside and downtown core area.

The lift station site is close to Deschutes Brewery, one of Bend’s major sewer customers that will be served. The new OSU Cascade Campus is also in the area to be served.

In 2013, a 17-member citizen advisory group identified this facility as the top priority for sewer system upgrades. The City Council accepted the citizen group’s recommendation and ordered preliminary design work to begin immediately. Lift station construction is anticipated to be completed in 2015.

The Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Group’s final recommendations for other sewer system improvements will be presented to the Bend City Council in late 2014.

For more information on the water pipeline project, visit bendoregon.gov/bridgecreekpipe. To learn more about prioritizing city sewer projects, visit bendoregon.gov/SIAG.