Ironwood calls for bids for water treatment plant

By ZACHARY MARANO

zmarano@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood — The Ironwood City Commission authorized the calling for bids for a new water treatment plant after an update on the project from the engineering company that designed the plant at their regular meeting on Monday.

Chris Larson of HDR Inc. said they have submitted the completed designs of the water treatment plant for review. Larson presented a floor plan and 3-D renderings of the plant to the commission. He said it will be located on the same property as the old pumping station on Pump Station Road in Ironwood Township.

“You can see the building itself is primary brick and rock face block. It’s shown with a brown metal roof. There’s a couple of parapets. Those are a primarily architectural feature to help match the building. It’s on the site the pump house is in — a historical structure, so we’re trying to pay respect to that,” Larson said.

Outside the building, the floor plan shows there will be a clear well and a clean water holding tank. Larson said that there will be new water main piping connecting to the tank to wells, overflows and drains in the city.

There will be four chemical rooms on the first floor of the plant, where several chemicals will be added to the water. Sodium permanganate will help remove manganese, which naturally occurs at high levels in the area. Phosphorate will act as a corrosion inhibitor and chlorine will disinfect the water and oxidize iron. They will also add fluoride in the water system to benefit the oral health of its users. The city commission authorized adding fluoride at a previous meeting in November.

The water will be stored in a detention tank on the first floor to provide time for the chemicals to react and then pumped into the city’s distribution system. The computers that run the water treatment will be found in a control room on the first floor. The first floor will also have an electrical room, bathroom and 30-foot-wide attached garage.

The plant will have a second floor. Larson said that this floor will primarily give an opportunity for the plant operators to view inside the filters from above.

The board also:

—Amended an agreement between the city and the Ironwood Tourism Council so that city employees working for the council will be fully reimbursed not only for their salary, but applicable fringe benefits.

—Authorized Mayor Pro Tem David Andresen to execute a quit claim deed from the city to Ottawa Forest Products Inc. City Manager Scott Erickson said there was a reversionary clause on a parcel contiguous with the rest of their holdings, but they already own it and are paying their taxes.

—Authorized Mayor Kim Corcoran’s appointments, including the reappointment of Anne Davey and Gemma Lamb to the board of review for three-year terms expiring Dec. 31, 2024, Wendy Hicks to the Ironwood Carnegie Library board of trustees for a five-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2026 and Stephanie Holloway to the planning commission for a three-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2024.