R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Gladstone’s wastewater treatment plant, shown here in April 2024, has been under construction since 2022. Its completion date has been pushed back and is now expected to be May 5, 2025.

GLADSTONE — The project to overhaul Gladstone’s wastewater treatment plant in what’s essentially a rebuild directly on top of the site of the old one is nearing finalization. Its estimated date for major completion is currently set for May 2025 — eleven months later than the original contract completion date of June 2024.

Engineering firm C2AE — a division of Capital Consultants, Inc. — has been working closely with the city and Staab Construction on the project. Plans began in 2021, and construction kicked off in 2022 to redo the plant that has been operating since 1974.

A number of unforeseen complications arose along the way, and though they have now mostly been overcome, the process wasn’t always smooth and was often lengthy.

An effect seen recently was an amendment to the contract between the city and C2AE to the effect of $127,321. The amount was reportedly lowered after City Manager Eric Buckman and Wastewater Superintendent Rodney Schwartz met with C2AE Client Relations Manager and Professional Engineer Darren Pionk.

The Gladstone City Commission, which has been presented with short updates about the project along with monthly requests for disbursements of funds, received a briefing about hiccups experienced during the improvements to the wastewater treatment plant at its meeting on Monday.

“Significant among these delays is an extended time in delivery of electrical switchgear. We would note that this has been a common occurrence due to supply chain disruptions,” wrote Pionk in a letter to Gladstone City Manager Eric Buckman dated Jan. 13, 2025. Costs caused by such unexpected delays were accrued for “shop drawing reviews and approvals, requests for information (RFIs), bulletins and contractor payment, and progress meetings with contractor and owner.”

In addition, multiple contract changes — sometimes caused by unforeseen site conditions and requests from the city — arose over the last couple years, requiring “additional engineering efforts by C2AE above and beyond normal construction administration,” as Pionk’s letter read.

Though a certain amount of potential adjusting was built into their original bid, a project with such a long duration — especially one being performed on top of an operating plant — also incurred some additional issues that couldn’t be handled at the originally-agreed upon price, Pionk explained in person on Monday.

“I appreciate that you stayed on the job even though you didn’t know what was going to be coming your way,” Commissioner Judy Akkala told him.

“You guys are part of us, and we’re kind of a community, and we work together,” Pionk responded. “Again, I hate coming to commissions and asking for additional money after approving the original budget, but these are just unforeseen things that — we tried to make it work, and we just can’t.”

With the contract amendment approved, raising the total payment to C2AE from $2,278,000 to $2,405,321, the city still has about $600,000 of contingency money that had been built into their budget for the project.

Before work began to redo the 1974 wastewater treatment plant, the City of Gladstone was approved for a loan through the State Revolving Fund (SRF) with 15% principal forgiveness. The estimated project total was $21,306,908, with most going towards Staab Construction. That figure includes $1.2 million of contingency funds to allow for unexpected increases, like that of the C2AE contract amendment. Having only committed about half of the contingency funds, the project is still under budget.

Each payment request that comes in is first approved by the City Commission before heading to the State of Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). Following EGLE’s approval, a check is written from the SRF. Gladstone expects to pay off the loan over the next 30 years.

Though smaller tasks like planting grass and perhaps external painting may take place after the May 5 target, “major completion” means that all construction will be done, and employees in the new and improved wastewater treatment plant will no longer have to share their workspace with contractors.