Key points:
The Clay County Utility Authority is weighing an unsolicited proposal to build a Keystone Heights wastewater treatment plant with nearly five times the capacity of the current facility for less than $8 million, after an earlier design came in at more than $12 million.
CCUA Executive Director jeremy Johnston said the utility has just under 1,900 customers in Keystone Heights, most of them on the water side. The utility’s main supply in the area comes from the Postmaster facility, which draws from the lower aquifer. Two smaller plants inside the city limits pull from shallower wells. CCUA plans to decommission those two plants and improve a facility on the west side, leaving one plant on the east and one on the west.
Johnston said he has discussed septic-to-sewer conversions with the City of Keystone Heights. On a past project in the Doctors Lake area, where existing lines were nearby, connections cost $20,000 to $25,000 per home before inflation. CCUA now estimates $40,000 to $50,000 per house at competitive contractor pricing. In the Doctors Lake project, the state paid for nearly everything, including capacity fees. Homeowners paid only for upgrades they chose, such as relocating a grinder pump station or upgrading a control panel.
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