Flood wall construction to begin soon at Compton Wastewater Treatment Plant

The city of Branson's Compton wastewater facility.

Construction of the flood wall for the Compton Drive Wastewater Treatment Plant was given the green light by the Branson Board of Aldermen at their Tuesday, May 23, meeting.

The Utilities Department submitted to the aldermen a request to have the wall built by KCI Construction Company because they provided the lowest qualifying bid for the project. KCI submitted a bid of $9.962 million, with Branco Enterprises bidding $10.134 million and Emery Sapp & Sons bidding $10.471 million.

"Funds were obtained by grants provided by CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) and EDA (U.S. Economic Development Administration)," Powell said. "We have $13 million total in grant funding available to us for this product and we will spend the near $10 million for construction, and we amended our grant application to be reimbursed for our final engineering costs, which we’ve submitted an amount of just under $500,000."

Powell said there will be additional costs funded by the grants including preparation work for the construction and working with Liberty Utilities for relocation of a power line which could cost around $175,000.

"Roughly $10.7 of the $13 million will go toward the Compton wall," Powell said.

Mayor Larry Milton asked Powell if the final total was below their estimated costs for the project presented to the aldermen in 2022.

"We estimated the wall would cost about $10 million, but after engineering studies and the COVID epidemic, the bids came back much higher than we had anticipated, in the $12 million to $13 million dollar range," Powell said. "We received additional grant funding because of that, we had enough justification, but with pricing settling down a little bit.

"I also have to credit our [city] engineers with how close the three bids were together. Our latest engineer estimate was $10.4 million, with a 5% contingency, so if you take out that contingency they hit it within $8,000. So it gives us a lot of confidence in the plans they put out."

Branson City Administrator Cathy Stepp praised Powell and his team for their work on the "very complicated grant process." Milton also shared his praise for Powell and his team's efforts to bring the project to the ready to build phase.

The ordinance to approve the contract passed unanimously on both a first and second reading, with the second reading necessary because of the start date required in the EDA grant.

"With our EDA grant, we have a start date of June 23 of this year," Powell said. "That contract is set for 456 days, so it will [finish] in Sept. 2024."

Alderman Cody Fenton asked Powell to explain for residents who may not understand the importance of the project the reason for the wall.

"This is many years of effort by people ahead of me, so there's a lot of credit due to different staff members," Powell said. "I like how Governor Parson put it. This allows us to focus on other parts of the city. It's been worrisome for us. I’ve been through flood events, our staff's been through flood events, and it's many hours away from our regular duties.

"It's going to protect our city. It's going to protect our businesses and our life in Branson. WIthout this treatment facility, we would be in dire need of services. This will help our economic engine grow, hopefully, and help other projects be more resilient."

Fenton pressed Powell, saying he needed to explain what would happen if the lake really flooded the complex.

"I try not to focus on the disaster part of it," Powell responded. "Environmentally, it impacts not only Branson lakes but downstream properties as well. It's a much needed project with Compton Drive being our larger facility, it takes in about 60% of the city's sewer system, and parts of Taney County and all the way to Stone County."

Powell told Branson Tri-Lakes News there will be a public groundbreaking ceremony in June to celebrate the start of construction.

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