The Flowery Branch City Council Thursday night approved the contract for construction management services as preparations are made for the new wastewater facility.
The council unanimously approved Archer Western Construction as the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) for the Flowery Branch wastewater treatment facility, which hopes to see completion in December 2025. The manager role will work closely with the city council, as well as project engineers, in order to provide cost estimation throughout the design process.
Four firms submitted applications for the CMAR role. After in-depth proposal analysis and interviews, Archer Western Construction (AW) was selected. While AW will help deliver the much-needed expansion, they will also review design plans, assess cost estimates and provide guidance on procuring needed materials.
“We have our engineers on board and today, council voted on the construction manager at risk who is Archer Western,” City Manager Tonya Parrish said. “And that way they can work hand in hand and design the plant, go ahead and order some of the equipment that has a long lead time.”
Flowery Branch has been near capacity in its existing wastewater treatment plant, as public interest in solving the issue has bubbled up after the council’s rejection of a previous inflated bid. Late last year, the city council voted to reject facility expansion plans when designs came in roughly $30 million over budget.
At a previous council meeting, they voted in approval of a five-year intergovernmental agreement between Flowery Branch and Gainesville, wherein Gainesville would assist in treating up to 400,000 gallons of wastewater per day. This agreement aims to take some of the current burdens off of the overworked Flowery Branch treatment plant.
As the CMAR has now been chosen, movement on the new facility can get underway.
“Right now we have a permit for 910,000 gallons per day, phase one of this project will take us to 1.5 million gallons a day,” Parrish said. “And phase two will take us all the way to 2.2 million gallons a day. And that's more piping, phase two is not a part of this project yet, but 1.5 million gallons a day will be fantastic for our city.”
