Work On Portobello In Baxter Ahead Of Schedule

Work on Baxter’s Portobello America site is some two months ahead of schedule.

Building and Codes Official Bob Lane said that the crew had been able to complete the grading and move dirt for the tile manufacturing company more swiftly than expected.

“Building people, they will put someone on the backburner for a project this size, and I’m sure that’s what’s happened in this case,” Lane said. “When you get on projects this large, there’s a lot of money to be made. So you’ll attract folks that ain’t going to fool with something little.”

Lane said crews have been able to push through heavy periods of rain, decreasing the time it takes to build at its Diddy Road location. He said that the crews are now expecting a completion date in May 2023.

In other business, Baxter also approved $1.5 million for the issuance, sale, and payment of a three-year capital outlay project for Baxter’s wastewater treatment plant renovations. Engineer Tom Bennett said that the city is looking at the first part of next year to get the project ready for bid, and then about 12 months after that for construction to take place.

“It’s really required to support what’s happening in Baxter,” Bennett said. “So the rate of development that Baxter has seen coupled with an aging sewer system and collection system challenges really kicks this project into a requirement. So it’s going to support not only what we currently have, but also what we have coming.”