Ritzville Well 9 Pump Station to be completed before summer 2017

The Ritzville City Council passed a resolution during an executive session on Monday, Dec. 12, pertaining to securing an option for the completion of the Well 9 Pump Station before summer 2017.

The resolution states in 2014 the City entered a contract for the construction of the Well 9 Pump Station in order to ensure the health and safety of citizens and to be used as a dependable water source.

After the contracting party partially completed the project, Well 9 Pump Station performed well in operation but failed to work properly in shut down.

Since May 2015, engineers have been working to try and discover the source of the problem during shutdown, which eventually led to the complete failure of the well.

During an open session, the contracting party informed the Council they did not know what led to the problem of the well’s operation during shutdown. Due to the failure of the well, the City terminated the contract with the contracting party leaving retainage fees and an additional 3-4 percent of the agreed amount unpaid.

The City of Ritzville then made a claim against the contracting party, which they denied. In an attempt to find a solution to the problem, the City spent a large sum of money in construction costs and legal fees prior to the failure of the pump.

After discussing the issue with the City’s engineer, the City decided to remove the pump to look for a solution to the problem. The removal of the well pump, shaft, column and additional parts inside the pump, showed the lack of appropriate lateral space to be causing the problem on shut down.

The City has received three bids from contractors to fix the issue. The contracting party has proposed to further their original contract with the City to fix the problem at a maximum of $220,000. The other two bids are for under $400,000.

The lower bidding contractor stated they have been in contact with Flow Serve, the manufacturer of the pump parts originally used for the well, in order to complete the project. The original contracting party believes using these connections will solve the problem indefinitely.

Despite the contracting party’s bid being lower, the City is still considering the other two options.

The council discussed the benefits of accepting the highest bid due to certain safeguards, which are preferred over the proposals from the other two contractors.

Clerk-Treasurer Kris Robbins said in May 2016 the completion of the Well 9 Pump Station was declared an emergency.

A few months later, Robbins said the Council passed a resolution granting Mayor Gary Cook the power to take appropriate steps towards addressing the situation.

During the executive session on Dec. 12, the Council stated they would prefer accepting one of the higher bids in order to ensure the completion of the Well 9 Pump Station prior to the summer of 2017.

The resolution also establishes the power given to the Mayor to take all appropriate actions deemed reasonably necessary to ensure Well 9 will be available for operation by the requested time.