Meter delaying project

A faulty inflow meter installed by AE2S is still holding up the completion of the Keystone sewer treatment plant.

The Keystone Town Board had planned to sign off on the plant but has delayed its decision until AE2S remedies the situation.

“I needed a meter for the inflow, the water coming into the plant,” said Jerry Przybylski, superintendent of public works for Keystone. “The one I had before when I had an auger in there would back the water up so it would give me a false read. So we put in another new auger. They didn’t want to put the meter behind it again cause the same thing would happen. So they said to me ‘we’ll put it up at the sewer plant before it goes into the process, we’ll meter it up there.’ They went and put it on the pipe up there and we could never get a reading on it. We then decided we can’t make it work. We don't know what’s wrong with it. So we’re just going to put in a meter after the auger. They (AE2S) got us this meter we put it in there. We’re still getting false readings; it was 70,000 more (gallons) than what we were putting out. We knew it was wrong.”

Przybylski invited South Dakota Association of Rural Water to take a look at the situation. Its report shows that “this meter is not applicable for wastewater and ideal conditions are in a smooth channel where there are no ripples.”

Since the auger sprays water it always produces ripples in the water. Dustin Dale, project manager and AE2S employee disputes the claim, saying Przybylski was looking at the wrong manual and that the meter is suitable for wastewater projects.

Przybylski and rural water checked the pipe on which the meter was installed to make certain there was fluid inside. During the investigation Przybylski claims, “they (AE2S) put the meter on the wrong pipe. They put a manhole there to put this meter on the pipe and now it’s now on the right pipe.” 

Przybylski believes that AE2S will not only have to locate the correct pipe but also install another manhole to get to the pipe. 

All this comes at the town’s expense, since the grant money for the project has run out.

“We have to eat it, “ said Cassndra Ott, town finance officer for Keystone. “A lot of the project was covered under grants and so we get reimbursed for those expenses up to a certain amount. We’ve hit that amount. So anything more that’s not done is ours. Now it’s coming out of the town budget.”

The town has over $400,000 in loans for the project, which had two parts to it. 

“We had a well retrofit project and a sewer plant phase project,” Ott said. “The well retrofit project took well three, which was below Swanzey Street, and put it above Swanzey Street, so we no longer had electrical issues and safety concerns. So the pumphouse is now above Swanzey Street instead of embedded into it.”

The sewer plant updates included lights, blowers and aerators in addition to the auger. Without a correct meter in place the town has no way of calculating how many biosolids are collected, a number the state requires water treatment plants to provide.

Przybylski claims that AE2S made mistakes from the beginning, drawing plans based on ‘as builts’ the town has never had.

“We don’t have any as builts,” Przybylski said. “I’ve never seen any as builts for that plant.”

According to Dale it’s “common” for retrofit projects to be done off of as builts.

The town and AE2S have had problems from the project’s inception, which was in March of 2016. The initial bid by AE2S failed to identify Dakota Pumps would be paid separately for any work it provided.

“We didn’t know Dakota Pump was separate,” Przybylski said. “Normally these big projects you only pay one contractor And they have subcontractors under them. Dakota Pump somehow didn’t get subcontractor status. They got contractors status and we were never told about it. They never attended the introductory meetings where you start the project. Dakota Pump wasn’t at these meetings.”

Paperwork between the parties does show Dakota Pump would be paid separately. 

Rick Brandfas, Keystone town board president is frustrated by the lack of communication and response from AE2S.

“We put our trust in AE2S.” Brandfas said. “That trust kind of gets a little bit fuzzy when you can’t reach someone directly and they don’t get back to you. You have to service your customers. We’re not just a customer — we’re a town. A lot of people rely on a solid infrastructure. We want clarity and closure.”

According to Dale, AE2S will be at the plant the week of Feb 17.

“We want Keystone to have the right product,” Dale said.

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