City Commissioners approved final payment for a sanitary sewer trenchless rehabilitation project during their July 21 meeting.

That includes $812,537.55 to Vortex Services LLC and $8,207.45 to the state miscellaneous tax fund.

Commissioners awarded a $832,995 contract to Vortex in September 2025 to rehabilitate more than 12,900 linear feet of aging sewer main with cure-in-place pipe.

City approves sewer lining contract [2025]

Trenchless rehabilitation can improve more piping than open-trench replacement for the same cost and reduce interruptions from days/weeks to hours, according to the city staff report.

The liners are essentially new PVC pipe inside the old pipe and typically have a useable lifetime of approximately 100 years, according to the city.

Annually, city public works staff collaborate to complete another phase of the project to improve sewer conditions.

The city received four bids for the project, ranging from $863,191 to $832,995, with Vortex Services submitting the low bid.

City staff completed sewer main inspections to identify and prioritize mains that need rehabilitation, and designed the lining project, including plans and specifications. City engineering staff provided 568 hours of construction phase engineering services and project inspection.

Many of the city’s sewer mains have been in service for more than 50 years and due to various issues, from calcium buildup to severe cracking, some mains are selected each year to be lined using CIPP, according to the city.

The mains can serve anywhere from 0 to 20 service connections and during the lining process, residents and businesses who are served by the mains are advised not to send anything down their sewer service, such as running the shower or flushing a toilet, to avoid sewer backups, as the service connections are blocked while the liner cures, according to the city.

Once the liner cures, the service connections are cut open and can be used as normal. The typical sewer service outage duration is about 2.5 hours.

The project installed CIPP in 34 different sewer mains, ranging in diameter from 8 to 12 inches, improving sanitary sewer collection capabilities, removing calcium deposits and roots, sealing against groundwater infiltration, preventing main collapse, and improving overall flow.

The final project cost is $820,745.00, which is $12,250 less than the total contract amount and was funded through the sanitary sewer fund, an enterprise fund made up of service fees.

The cost is lower because there were fewer calcium deposits than estimated and four mains weren’t able to be lined due to material type or pipe diameter.

The two-year warranty period started at substantial completion, which was June 17.