Council approves $884,037 contract with Big Sky ID Corp for Mill River lift station upgrades

The council voted to approve a construction contract with Big Sky ID Corp for upgrades to the Mill River Lift Station in a motion that carried unanimously at the meeting.

Staff member Mike told the council the work is “part 2” of the Mill River Pump Station project and that engineering design has been completed. “What we're gonna do is take, this darker green line is gonna be a pipe… and then all the flow is gonna enter the lift station from here,” he said, describing a reconfiguration intended to allow crews to bypass the station during maintenance.

Mike said the reconfiguration will let crews plug a line, drop a pump into a generously sized manhole and pump around the lift station — a capability he described as important because the station sits adjacent to the river. “So we obviously wanna make sure that we're protecting the environment,” he said.

He told the council bids were split into two schedules (the lift station and ancillary pipe work). The transcript reports an engineer's estimate listed at roughly $1.2 million and that Big Sky’s bid matched the contract amount put forward at the meeting. The council moved to approve a contract with Big Sky ID Corp “in the amount not to exceed $884,037.”

Mike also said Mill River surcharge funds total about $419,000 and that finance staff would transfer the surcharge balance at year-end to exhaust the fund. He said project costs align with rate-fee budgets and that the city engineer reviewed the low bid and found it appropriate and legal.

A council member moved to accept the bid and approve the construction contract; Mike seconded the motion. The chair called the question, members voted in favor and the chair stated, “Motion carries.” The meeting was then adjourned.

The contract award is the formal step that follows earlier engineering approvals; the transcript does not list individual vote tallies or provide an exact project schedule or construction start date.