Bid Awarded for Raw Water Intake Station

Lavonia is replacing the pumps at the lift station at the end of the Franklin County Boat Ramp Road and Crawford Creek. Both intake pumps, which supply water from Hartwell Lake to Lavonia City water customers, are at least 20 years old and according to City Manager Gary Fesperman, they need to be replaced before they begin to fall. “That project involves replacing the pumps in Lake Hartwell that are aging and starting to cause issues. It also includes the installation of a booster station, on Franklin County Boat Ramp Road, that would include an in line booster pump. That would allow the plant to pull additional water to the plant and maximize efficiency of the plant” Once completed, Fesperman said the intake station will have all new electronics and two new pumps plus a new booster pump. Fesperman said the city is receiving grant money to help pay for the project. ” It will be an Application Regional Commission Grant  funded project in conjunction with the water fund reserve fund. This project came in under bid, we had two qualified bidders, and the bid we accepted at Monday night’s council meeting, was $605,000 dollars to do this project. The grant was $252,000, so the balance will be paid out of the water fund reserve.” The total cost of the project is about $950,000. Once it gets started the work will likely take 120- 130 days to complete, according to the City Manager. Fesperman said the City hopes to have the work completed by the end of the summer early fall.