Baxter Sewer Projects Come Under Budget By Thousands Of Dollars

Baxter’s Portobello utility extension project has come in under budget by some $350,000.

City Engineer Tom Bennett said that is a rarity in the realm of municipal construction projects. He said that is especially true given the conditions of the marketplace right now.

“We’ve had good contractors and everything’s just gone as planned we haven’t had a lot of issues that have come up as they often do in construction,” Bennett said. “So I would at this point we’ve just been very fortunate and had a good group of contractors doing the work so we’re grateful to have some money left for once.”

Bennett said the city will hopefully be able to use that additional funding for other projects. He said those dollars came from federal agencies, so the city will work with them to determine what to do with the rest of that money.

Bennett said the city also came in under budget some $50,000 for a CDBG sewer project that the city hopes to reallocate as well. He said they are working now to determine if there is a use for those funds somewhere.

“We’re not quite sure yet,” Bennett said. “But if possible we’ll use those for continued work on the city’s sewer system.”

The city also currently awaiting approval on its $3 million TDEC ARP-funded sewer project. He said once that is complete, paired with the upgrades the city has done with so far, Baxter will soon be able to feel the positive impact of the work on its sewer.