HERNANDO, Miss. (AP) — The DeSoto County Regional Utility Authority board has authorized advertising for bids for an estimated $2.9 million project to close old, offline sewage plants in the western part of the county.
The Commercial Appeal reports (https://bit.ly/1k7FdFs ) the trio of aging, problem-plagued facilities has been replaced by the $13.8 million Johnson Creek plant, which began operating in western DeSoto County in April 2013.
Tom Flanagan, consulting engineer with the Hernando-based Waggoner firm, says seeking bids will await pending project approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
The project will be paid for with $1.16 million from the Corps of Engineers, with the rest coming from a state revolving loan fund.
Officials plan demolition and removal of all structures, clearing and erosion control, seeding and sod, earthwork, sludge dewatering and removal, lagoon lining removal and salvage of any usable treatment-plant components at the Twin Lakes and Lake Forest plants and the Walls Lagoon.
"The sites will be filled in and brought up to the original grade, and grass planted," said Flanagan at this week's board session. "We'll try to get started in October with the closeout within six months."
The board intends to air proposals for use of reclaimed land, including selling to farming interests or transferring to cities or neighborhood groups.
"This means putting the landscape back to its natural state," said board member Spencer "Penny" Shields. "It has a technical and very expensive meaning."