By Jim Bloch
The main building at Port Huron’s wastewater treatment plant will soon have a new roof.
The city council voted unanimously at its regular meeting May 26 to award the contract for the work to Tri-Star Roofing & Sheet Metal, LLC, of Kimball Township, with the low bid of $404,600.
The vote was 5-0. Mayor Pro Tem Sherry Archibald and city council member Bob Mozurak were absent.
Unlimited Construction, of South Lyon, submitted the second lowest bid at $430,000; KJP Roofing & Sheet Metal, of Chesterfield Township, came in at $463,700 followed by Bloom Roofing Systems, Inc., of Brighton, at $515,514 and Royalty Roofing USA, LLC, of Kalamazoo at $561,570. Newton Crane Roofing, Inc., of Pontiac, was high at $671,724.
The plant was built in 1951, expanded in the mid-1970s.
“The primary building roof is an original built-up tar roofing system with ballast,” said City Manager James Freed in his memo to Mayor Anita Ashford and the council. Freed did not attend the meeting; instead, planning director David Haynes represented city administration. “The system has drastically deteriorated and the building is leaking in multiple places, one being over the newly installed control panel and transformer.”
The main building holds the primary clarifier tanks, which recently underwent rehabilitation; at the time, new automation controls, lighting, control panel and a transformer were installed.
The roof is approximately 20,000 square feet.
“Engineering quotes were obtained and an amendment to an existing roofing agreement with Fishbeck, Inc. was made for the design and construction oversight of a primary building roof replacement project, including new membrane, insulation, hatch, and drains,” Freed said.
The city’s sewer plant serves about 55,000 customers and treats nine million gallons of wastewater per day. Port Huron, Fort Gratiot and Kimball townships also use the system and will contribute proportionately to the cost of the work.
“Based on the Sanitary Sewage Disposal Service agreements, each of the townships are responsible of their percentage of costs for the city to operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant,” Freed said.
Port Huron Township accounts for 13.35 percent of the use and will pay $54,014. Kimball Township at 5.41 percent will pay $ 21,889; Fort Gratiot Township at 13.83 percent will contribute $ 55,956. The city accounts for most of the plant’s capacity, with a usage rate of 67.41 percent; it will pay $272,741 of the roof’s total cost.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
