‘A multi-generational project’: Barrington awards $78 million contract for wastewater plant upgrades

Upgrades to Barrington’s aging wastewater treatment facility will cost about 42% more than original estimates, under a contract approved by the village board Monday.

Village trustees awarded the $78.2 million contract to IHC Construction Companies of Elgin. The next lowest bid was $83 million, while the highest bid was $88 million.

Consultant Strand Associates Inc. of Joliet initially projected the cost at just under $55 million.

Aside from the cost, Public Works Director Fred Braun said upgrades to the 90-year-old facility at 302 N. Raymond Ave. represent a major milestone.

The most recent major upgrade to the plant, which processes more than 2 million gallons of wastewater daily, was 1979.

“We’re talking about a multi-generational project that is going to impact lives far beyond everybody in this room,” he said during Monday’s village board meeting.

Project manager Michael Ott with Strand Associates, Inc., attributed much of the cost increase to competition with data centers for labor and materials in the electrical sector.

“They can fill their pockets with data center work, so they don’t need to go after municipal work,” he said.

Ott also apologized to the board about the underestimate.

“As a project manager, it’s my responsibility to give the village sound advice,” he said.

Much of the project’s cost will be covered by a $70 million loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The village also is receiving $1 million in Community Project Funding through U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley and is eligible for a $200,000 ComEd grant.

Construction is expected to be complete sometime in 2030, Village Manager Scott Anderson said.

Ott said the project will improve the plant’s capacity to reduce sanitary overflows.

“Unfortunately, when large rain events hit, flows exceed the current capacity of the wastewater treatment plant, and raw sewage from time to time does get discharged,” he said.

The project will replace aging equipment and upgrade the facility to meet current design and code requirements.

The current facility is showing its age, with cracked concrete and piping and outmoded technology.

With the addition of right-sized equipment and more efficient motors, the plant will become more energy efficient, Ott said.

szalusky@dailyherald.com