Work on Concrete’s wastewater treatment plant could be at a standstill soon if the town’s contracted engineering firm isn’t paid an additional $300,000.

Concrete was ordered by the Department of Ecology in 2002 to replace an inefficient lagoon system with a wastewater treatment plant.
The town already has paid HDR Engineering about $1 million in preparation work.

Because of extra man hours required after construction began in 2006, HDR Engineering’s original bid of $198,000 did not cover the associated expenses. Concrete officials say they had asked several times if the bid was enough for HDR’s portion of the project and were assured it was.

The town of about 800 has nearly doubled its residential sewer rates in order to start paying off the low-interest loans required to pay for the $6.5 million project.

To have another $300,000 required is off the charts to the council and understandably so. This would be like hiring an electrician to install a new ballast. Say the estimate is $1,500, but you receive the bill and it’s $3,000. Sure, to some that’s pocket change. But to most of us, it’s a budget breaker.

Companies hired by public municipalities should be required to do a better job of estimating their costs. Too many times companies have to go back to a governing body and request more money than their original bid.

In the end, it’s the taxpayers who are footing the bill. In this case, Concrete residents are already facing some of the highest sewer rates in the county. And unless the town is willing to take the issue to court and face paying even more in legal fees, they are going to have to pay the piper.