Montville - The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted the town permission to move ahead with a nontraditional plan for construction of a pretreatment system for wastewater on Rand-Whitney Containerboard's property, despite reservations based on past experiences with the type of approach the town has proposed.

Under the proposed methodology, engineering contractor Woodard & Curran would not only complete designs for the system but also oversee its construction, with consultant Key Solutions Inc. aiding the town in oversight of Woodard & Curran. Mayor Ronald McDaniel in a July 9 letter to DEEP Division Director Denise Ruzicka referred to the plan as a "design/construction management-at-risk" approach.

"What we think is that, at the end of the day, we're going to have a better model for controlling costs," McDaniel said Friday.

DEEP typically prefers the more common design-bid-build approach, according to DEEP Supervising Engineer Dennis Greci. Under that approach, one firm designs a development and then the town or owner of the project takes the designs and bids out construction to a construction firm.

McDaniel wrote in the July letter that the design/construction method would allow Woodard & Curran to tweak designs as necessary throughout the construction process so as to keep costs within the $5 million state grant with which the town is funding the project.

He said Friday that working with one firm to design and construct the system also means the town would be able to deal directly with only one contact if problems arise with materials or subcontractors hired by Woodard & Curran.

"I'm not going after 14 different contractors if something fails," McDaniel said Friday.

In an Aug. 21 response to the town's letter, Ruzicka wrote, "As you are aware, the Department has some reservations regarding the use of the approach which you have requested to use, based on our previous experience."

In the past, when other towns have utilized a design/construction method, costs have sometimes skyrocketed due to the engineer's ability to tweak designs and extend the building timeline during construction, according to Greci.

"So it does become more expensive sometimes, not all the time - but sometimes - to do it that way. That's just a risk," he said.

He said DEEP has granted Montville permission to go the lesser-walked path because the letter showed that the town had gone to great length to address the department's concerns.

"They've pretty much set it up," said Greci. "They gave it a lot of thought."

He said the town's retention of a consultant to aid in overseeing construction was a key factor in DEEP's decision.

"I think that's a big deal," he said.

The system slated to be built on Rand-Whitney's property - called an anaerobic phased solids or APS system - is being designed to use microorganisms to convert the acidic wastewater to a tamer variety of wastewater. By placing the APS system on Rand-Whitney's property, the town would minimize the distance the caustic wastewater travels, preventing erosion of the pipelines.

Though on the company's property, the system will be owned by the town and operated by Woodard & Curran.

The town accepted the $5 million grant in March, given to the town via a special act passed by the state legislature. After accepting the grant, the town signed a personal services agreement with DEEP, in which it agreed to conditions for receiving the money.

McDaniel said the town realized in June that the agreement did not allow the town to follow its planned design/construction approach. The realization prompted the July letter.

Greci said that DEEP is currently working on amending the agreement to reflect its concurrence with the town's chosen approach. He said he expects the department will complete the changes within weeks, and the agreement will require new signatures from the town and state at that time.

t.townsend@theday.com

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