May 27—Lockport has bonded an additional $1.3 million to pay for the Gulf Sewer Interceptor Sewer Project, which a previous council bonded $7.7 million for in November of 2021, according to the resolution.

The project is to replace one of the main interceptor sewer lines in the city, based on studies of the pipeline leading to the Waste Water Treatment Plant, which runs north and south of Niagara Street. Coincidentally, the state Department of Environmental Conservation was doing its own remediation project south of Niagara Street right where the sewer line runs.

"Fortunately things were able to work out with DEC, as part of their remediation project, that they relocated a part of the sewer that we intended to rehab ourselves. That came all the way to Niagara Street," Mike Marino, a consultant engineer for Nussbaumer & Clark, said at Wednesday's city council meeting.

The agency needed the Gulf Creek clear of the sewer pipe as they cleaned up the site and agreed with the city that it would replace the sewer line to Niagara Street. That left is slightly less than a mile of sewer line to replace for the city, but it was and is still an expensive endeavor.

The project received about $2 million from the state, along with a zero-interest loan. The city also applied for and won a Water Infrastructure Improvement grant of another $2 million. Finally, an additional $2 million in funding was awarded by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Marino said that the DEC is currently asking for 30% contingency, meaning that all costs be inflated 30% more, "because of the way the market was during the pandemic."

"They asked us ... in the revised design report, to update the construction cost numbers, and (those costs) escalated a little bit," Marino said, noting that the full cost may be less than the bonded amount of $9.1 million, but that the city must show it is willing to pay the balance for the sewer line. A large portion of that bond will also be mitigated with the grant money.

The city council voted unanimously to bond the money for the project.