At the most recent Keota City Council meeting, a resolution approving specifications for wastewater plant improvements was unanimously approved, and the council will now move forward with the bid process. City Clerk Niki Osweiler says the council also approved the opinion of probable construction costs (OPC) in the same resolution, which is an estimate for the high end of what the project should cost. The OPC is $2,549,800, though the city’s hope is the bids will come back under that figure.

Osweiler says there will be many changes to the existing plant, “They’re just upgrading it. They’re adding another cell, and they are also redoing some of the buildings out there, and the pumps. So the wastewater plant will just kind of get an upgrade, is what they’re looking at.” A portion of the cost will be covered by a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) the city received last year. The council is expected to review and possibly accept bids at their next meeting. Osweiler is hopeful the upgrade project will be completed by this fall.