By RICK RUGGLES
OMAHA, Neb., Oct. 20, 2000 (Omaha World-Herald)—The city's massive sewer-improvement project could cost far more than the $61.2 million estimated by city administrators, a consultant says.
In a report on engineering and technical staffing needed for the project, engineer Paula Wells of Omaha wrote that the project could cost up to $104 million - 70 percent more than estimated.
Norm Jackman, city engineer for environmental services, said that he is sticking with $61.2 million for now. Estimating the cost of sewer-separation projects, in which sanitary and storm sewers are separated for better service, is difficult, he said. Wells wasn't hired to estimate the cost and her analysis of that matter is far from complete, he said.
"As we do the projects, we can refine our costs better," Jackman said.
The sewer-improvement effort has been a key issue involving the city's infrastructure. A downpour last August caused sewers to overflow and gush wastewater into numerous basements.
Mayor Hal Daub previously had stepped up the project so that it would be substantially done by 2011, 10 years faster than originally planned. After the flooding, the City Council insisted that the sewer- improvement project be done by 2007. The overflow problem is at its worst in older neighborhoods.
Wells wrote that "the cost will be significantly higher" than the $61.2 million previously estimated.
She said Thursday evening that her terminology was too definite and that she should have written that the cost "could be significantly higher."
Wells was hired to report on staffing strategies that will efficiently move the sewer-improvement program along. She examined eight sewer-separation projects done in Omaha from 1995 through 1998 and found that the costs were higher than had been anticipated.
"Is that a fair sample? I don't know. It's all I had," Wells said.
Jackman said more than 20 projects were done during that period. Between the start of this year and 2007, some 75 sewer-separation projects are scheduled to be completed, he said.
Jackman said such projects aren't simple because they involve analyzing the flow through various connections and bends in the sewer system.
Sometimes one project unexpectedly connects with a second, he said, and the first project consequently becomes more expensive. But because the first project would take care of a portion of the second, the latter would be less costly. At this point, he said, he doesn't know whether the cases examined by Wells were larger or more complex than had been expected.
Jackman said the estimate of $61.2 million is based generally on an analysis of how much such projects cost per acre. That remains the best analysis available, he said.
The report is dated May 2000. The World-Herald obtained a copy Thursday.
Reached Thursday night, three City Council members, President Marc Kraft, James Monahan and Bob Sivick, said they hadn't seen it.
That's not good news, Sivick said when informed of the numbers. I hope the consultant is wrong or the figures are off. Monahan said he had heard rumblings that the project would cost more than had been estimated.
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