Albion village accepts bid for $1.36 million to build new 750,000-gallon water tank - Orleans Hub

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 November 2023 at 9:30 pm

File photo by Tom Rivers – The 1-million-gallon water tank on Route 98 will be replaced with a smaller tank at 750,000 gallons north of the village in the Town of Gaines. The village will have the 1-million gallon tank demolished. The new tank will keep the water drop design with "Village of Albion Water."

ALBION – The Albion Village Board is moving forward with replacing a water tank on Route 98, north of the village in Gaines.

The current tank was built in 1962 and has a capacity for 1 million gallons.

The board voted to accept a construction bid this evening for a new tank that will hold 750,000 gallons. It will be a glass-fused steel tank, said Adam Rush, the village water plant chief operator.

The tank mostly serves the town of Carlton. Water is kept in the tank and backflows into the Carlton waterlines.

Statewide Aquastore from East Syracuse submitted the low bid of $1,369,000 for the project. Another bid for a concrete tank was $1,949,105.

The project will be funded with a state grant through the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA).

The board in September also accepted a $1,527,000 bid from STC Construction of Springville for the first phase of the project, which includes demolition of current tank, and installation of new piping, valves and a meter pit.

A $1,250,000 grant from the state will cover most of the cost for the first phase. That money is from the Community Development Block Grant program, with another grant from WIIA covering 60 percent of the remaining cost or $166,200. The village expects it will pay its share through the water rates in the water fund.

The first phase needs to be done by April 9, and then the new tank will be constructed in the spring or summer, Rush said.

The new tank will be smaller the current one because the village added more capacity with a 3 million gallon tank in the mid-1990s near the intersection of routes 98 and 31A.

The village also is close to completion with another project for its water system. Keeler Construction in Barre is on target to be substantially complete by Dec. 1 with a new building to store fluoride.

The village accepted a $388,000 bid from Keeler for a fluoridation building that is 14-by-14 feet, with mechanical (HVAC and plumbing) and electrical components and systems. Rush said fluoridation equipment will be moved in soon after Dec. 1.

That project is funded with $312,000 grant from the state Department of Health, with the other $76,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The village was previously keeping the fluoridation chemicals in the water plant. Rush said it was a subpar setup. The village hasn't added fluoride to the water since the summer of 2021 but will start doing that again when the new concrete building is ready.

(Editor's Note: This article was updated from an earlier version that had the wrong company listed as the low bidder.)