Paving will disrupt traffic on River Drive North and close the Pacific Steel and Recycling Trailside Dog Park parking lot over the next week.

The paving is related to the city’s improvement projects at Lift Station No. 1.

Disruptions are expected April 16-17 as crews prepare traffic control and set up for parking lot paving.

The entire dog park parking lot will be closed for paving April 20-23 and the eastbound lane of River Drive North near the dog park entrance and exit will have periodic closures and construction traffic.

For more information, contact Calob Marquis, project manager at 406-771-1258 or Benjamin White with Prospect Construction, Inc. at 360-337-9633.

The City Commission approved two contracts for the lift station project in December 2024.

The first was a general contractor construction manager contract to Prospect Construction at a guaranteed maximum price of $7,456,692 for the lift station and supplemental force main improvements project. That contract had to be updated in January 2025 as staff had included an incorrect version in the December meeting materials and the cost was increased to $7,793,175.39.

Staff recommended approval concurrently with a professional services agreement with TD&H Engineering for engineering construction phase services for the project for $687,600.

City Commission approves updated version of lift station repair contract [2025]

The two contracts total $8,480,775.39.

In November 2024, commissioners approved about $1.6 million in related contracts.

Commissioners to consider $8.1 million in lift station, force main improvement contracts [2024]

Under the contract, TD&H will continue coordinating the general contractor construction manager process, bid package review, general construction management and inspection, as-built and operations and maintenance plan development and archaeological monitoring service for the project, according to city public works staff.

Commissioners approve $1.6 million in contracts for lift station upgrades [2024]

In 2021, the city conducted a feasibility study for the project, then applied for and was awarded American Rescue Plan Act, or federal COVID relief funds, for the project.

Design began in 2022 and 30 percent designs were complete in October 2022, at which point, the cost estimate was $7.8 million.

Commissioners voted in April 2023 to use the general contractor construction management process, which is allowed under Montana law, for alternative project delivery methods for complex projects under certain criteria, which city staff determined were met in this case.

The general contractor construction management process includes phases of preconstruction and construction, according to staff.

City approves contract for lift station project [2023]

It was the second project for which the city used the GCCM process.

In September 2023, the city awarded the contractor manager contract and had 60 percent designs in December 2023, at which point, the cost estimate had ballooned to $16.7 million, city staff said during an April 2024 work session, for an increase of $8.9 million.

City staff told commissioners in April that much of the initial cost estimates were based on the city’s 2021 river crossing project, but many of those costs had since doubled and inflation had risen.

During an April 2024 commission work session, staff discussed a $9 million budget shortfall that was discovered during the design phase of the project.

City adjusting plan for Lift Station No. 1 project due to cost increases [2024]

Due to the cost increase, city staff said in April that they adjusted the project scope to focus on Lift Station No. 1 improvements in the first phase and shift forcemain repairs to a future second phase.

In November 2024, commissioners approved two contracts for pre-procurement of long lead time equipment needed for the project.

Lift Station No. 1 was constructed in 1976 and is the city’s second largest pumping station, which pumps about 40 to 45 percent of all raw wastewater throughout the city to the wastewater treatment plant.

According to city staff, the current stormwater pumps and associated ball valves are deteriorating and parts are no longer available for repairs.

City Commission approves contract process for lift station project [2023]

The bar screen, installed in 1986, has difficulty screening rags/debris during high flows due to its large five-eighths-inch screen openings, while modern screens are either a quarter inch or three-eighths of an inch, according to staff.

The exhaust fan, which is necessary for removing hydrogen sulfide from the building, is currently at the end of its life; and the wet well repairs and replacement of six sluice gates are required since two gates no longer operate due to corrosion and the other four gates are approaching the same condition, according to staff.

“The renovation of Lift Station No. 1 provides future reliability of pumping of raw wastewater to the [wastewater treatment plant], minimizing the risk of service interruption, wastewater bypassing to the Missouri River, regulatory exposure, and environmental damage associated with aging equipment,” according to public works staff.

City considering contract for sewer crossing, lift station project [2023]

The project is the first phase, with the second phase anticipated in the future to construct a redundant river crossing.

“Completing these projects will reduce the severity of an S.O.S. due to extreme rain events and/or the older 1979 forcemain breaking,” according to public works.

The Lift Station No. 1 project was selected and prioritized under the public works capital improvements program.

It’s being funded with $3,854,585 of state ARPA minimum allocation grant funds; $2,000,000 of state ARPA competitive grant funds; and the remaining $5,521,597 from the city sewer treatment fund, according to city staff.

Construction completion is estimated for the fall of 2026.