City of Wichita, former mayor address price tag of new water treatment plant - KWCH

City of Wichita, former mayor address price tag of new water treatment plant

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Former Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell on Wednesday reached out to 12 News after an initial report on an additional $4 million spent on the new water plant and the $85,000 for a consultant to help the city decide what’s next for the old plant in what appears to be additional costs. Longwell said this isn’t new or unexpected.

Still, Wichitans like Mark Carter question the planning process.

“I thought what we would get out of the contract was a new plant, up and running, with some kind of disposition of the old plant,” Carter said.

The original nearly half-billion-dollar contract for a new water treatment facility was only for designing and building. Operations and startup were removed from the proposal in 2018.

The $4 million that recently came up is for what the city calls “startup and commissioning support.” It’s a cost the city says it knew about all along.

“That fact that we’re coming forward with this now and this $4 million cost, is not something that was left behind, it was not something that was left out. It is included in the entire rate structure and budget,” Wichita Public Works and Utilities Director Gary Janzen explained.

In a phone interview with 12 News, Longwell said, “this wasn’t a surprise.”

“Now we understand the full scope of the training needed and we probably didn’t have that same understanding six years ago,” the former mayor said.

But current Wichita Mayor Lily Wu raised concerns earlier this week, questioning why it wasn’t part of the original plan. The city said although there are extra costs for the new water treatment plant, it will not impact water rates.

“It makes more sense, but I’d still be curious to know why we had to go that route,” Carter said.

As far as the old water plant goes, the city has a separate contract with a consultant to help make decisions on what’s next.

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