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The map shows the city of Trosky and the stabilization ponds east of town that the city plans to build this year. Bids for the project were opened Tuesday, March 12 and the council will consider approval of the low bid on April 2. File image
The city of Trosky has received a low bid of $3,593,068.35 from Hulstein Excavating, of Edgerton, for a proposed sewer project. The bid from Hulstein Excavating was one of four opened during a special city council meeting on Tuesday, March 12. The other bids were all over $4 million with the high bid coming in at $4,593,842.85. The engineer’s estimate prepared by Banner Associates was between $3 million and $4 million.
Additional bids were received to extend the city’s water main to an acreage west of U.S. Highway 75 that is in the city limits. Hulstein Excavating also submitted the low bid for that work of $99,734.30. The high bid for that work was $172,014. That part of the project would be funded separately from the sewer project.
Scot Leddy, with Banner, said the engineering firm would review the bids and develop a recommendation to the city. Trosky City Council members will consider that recommendation at their April 2 meeting. Construction is expected to begin this summer and be completed by the end of the year.
The proposed project includes a gravity collection system that will connect to each property in the city, approximately 45 in all, and bring wastewater to a lift station and a force main that will pump the water to a primary stabilization pond. From there the water will go to a secondary pond and the treated water will be discharged twice a year into a waterway that connects to the Poplar Creek.
The city will pay for the project with a variety of grants and loans. According to information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), that bulk of the cost will be paid for with a Minnesota Point Source Implementation grant of $2.8 million. The city will also use a $600,000 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Small Cities Development grant, a $207,000 USDA Rural Development grant and a $91,000 USDA Rural Development loan.
Trosky is taking on the project to address wastewater issues. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) identified Trosky as an unsewered community in 2008 and subsequently required the city to take action. The city has no centralized sewer system and wastewater needs are met by individual septic systems, some of which do not meet groundwater protection standards, or through straight pipes that discharge untreated wastewater into a tributary of Poplar Creek.
The city and Banner examined a variety of options to address the wastewater issues over the years and determined that the pond system was the most viable, cost efficient, long-term solution.
