Amador County – Sutter Creek City Council on Monday approved seeking a contract manager for the city wastewater treatment plant, with the intent to try to retain city maintenance workers.

The council voted 3-2 to authorize City Manager Sean Rabe to try to work out a contract for a manager to oversee the plant’s operation, and potentially managing the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority.

Rabe presented full plant operation proposals from Perc Incorporated, and HydroScience Operations, which he boiled down to about $3,000 difference in costs, and the council steered toward hiring a manager.

Mayor Tim Murphy said it was an opportunity to fix recurring problems, such as seasonal regular leaks, and infiltration. He said “it costs us a lot of money to treat the infiltrated water,” and those chronic problems “point to a lack of coordinated planning for general maintenance of the city.” He said “longtime problems” should be fixed, but it “doesn’t seem like the right time to contract out,” and it would be better to add a professional person who can teach city staff to run the system well.

Councilman Jim Swift said the city spent a lot of time, effort and money with Wyatt Troxel, who turned around the plant, and brought it into compliance. He said a $1,200 fix on its smoke testing machine would allow the city to repair its own sewer lines. Swift said contracting might be appropriate in the future.

Councilwoman Sandy Anderson dissented, saying “the idea of risk transfer is huge to me.” The companies would assume liability in full contract plant operation. She wondered about hiring maintenance people for parks and recreation and other work, but was “on the fence about risk.”

Mayor Pro Tempore Linda Rianda also dissented, agreeing that “risk will probably direct my decision.” She said: “I watched Rob Duke manage the plant, and I believe we need more out there. I like the idea of contracting out there.” She said it would allow Rabe to focus on other areas of the city.

Swift said he was in favor of having someone with experience oversee the plant. Murphy said the companies both said they were open to hiring city maintenance workers, but PERC offered to hire two of the four, and HydroScience offered to hire three. He said “we’ll be back here a year from now talking about the same issues if we don’t get it right.”

Councilman Gary Wooten said both companies would do a good job, but he would like to keep city employees. He said Rabe is under a lot of pressure, and they need a part time wastewater plant manager. He said if ARSA would vote to fund part of the position, the manager could be put in charge of ARSA as well.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.