Council approves agreement with company for new wastewater treatment plant

(ABC 6 News) – The plan to build a brand new wastewater treatment plant in Albert Lea has taken another step forward this week.

The city council now approved a resolution that awards Bolton and Menk Incorporated the rights to design the new and improved plant. The cost for that work is over 400 thousand dollars.

The price of the project is already expected to stretch into the millions – but city officials say the new cost is a necessary step to get the ball rolling.

“It’s a reality that there is no way we can have someone on staff that knows how to build or design a wastewater treatment plant when we would only need them once every 40 years, so like municipalities with all these specialized projects, sometimes we do have to go out and get engineers,” City manager Ian Rigg said.

In total, for planning and construction the price tag for the new plant is expected to be around 73 million dollars.