The Sanitary District Board of Directors has approved the necessary resolutions to go forward with the district’s planned well enhancement and restroom project in Fountain Park. Construction is expected to begin in May and wrap up by the end of summer.

The board voted 4-0 to approve a contract with Hunter Contractors for $2,444,929. Board Vice Chairman Jerry Butler was absent.

The board approval allows District Manager Dana Trompke to execute a guaranteed maximum price contract.

The board also voted to authorize Trompke to enter into a time and materials agreement with Wilson Engineers to provide engineering and construction administrative services for the project. That agreement is for $266,640.

Trompke is also entering into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the Town of Fountain Hills in relation to the project that will provide shared use facilities for the district’s well equipment and public restrooms for Fountain Park.

Board Chairman Gregg Dudash complimented Trompke and her staff for the job they did negotiating the agreements.

The original engineering estimate for the project was $3.7 million.

“This is a 34.5 percent reduction from that initial estimate,” Dudash said. “This was an awesome job by staff.”

The district had determined that it needed to replace underground vaults that house electrical and pumping equipment for its recharge and recovery wells for storage of treated wastewater. They found the existing facilities in bad repair and aging. There are also concerns regarding electrical equipment underground and safety of employees working in the confined space of the vaults.

The town has in previous years expressed some interest in having an additional restroom in Fountain Park, but had never followed through.

However, Trompke approached the town about sharing facilities if it moved its equipment into aboveground buildings. A portion of each structure is to be used for electrical and monitoring equipment for the adjoining underground well, and the rest of the building would be built as a public restroom.

The project includes two facilities adjacent to two of the well sites in the park. The locations are on the north side near Panorama Drive and the amphitheater and the second is on the east side next to the parking lot and also near Panorama Drive.

The town is not participating in the construction of the facilities, but will take responsibility for maintaining the restrooms once complete.

Trompke said construction will begin on the building on the east side during May with work on the second to begin in June after graduation at the amphitheater.