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REGULAR MEETING APRIL 22, 2025 91 <br />gallery. She noted the estimated cost for these improvements is $8 million, which will address the <br />most urgent needs of the plant, making it more reliable and efficient. The project is ahead of <br />schedule, with design work reaching about sixty percent (60%) completion. The City is evaluating <br />whether to proceed with standard bidding or alternative bidding methods, similar to those used for <br />the Pinhook project. A guaranteed maximum price is expected by December 2025, with a loan <br />closing anticipated in January 2026. Construction is slated to begin after all paperwork is in place, <br />with a full year allocated for completing the upgrades. <br />Engineer Barber presented an update on the City's Lead Service Line Replacement efforts, which <br />are funded through a separate portion of the State Revolving Fund (SRF). Currently, the city is <br />working under a $5 million contract with forgivable funds received in the last funding round and <br />is applying for an additional $5 million to continue this work. She added that South Bend maintains <br />a public inventory of service lines, drawing data from sources such as tax records, water testing, <br />and property age. Approximately 30,000 service lines are known or assumed to contain lead. While <br />not all lines are leaching lead, the City's naturally hard water helps reduce corrosion risks. With <br />the anticipated funding, the City expects to replace lead lines at roughly 400 locations, from the <br />water main to the exterior of homes —the interior plumbing remains the homeowner's <br />responsibility, which differs from other Indiana communities. <br />Previous contracts were divided into three (3) subcontracts; two (2) have been awarded, and the <br />third is targeted with the new funding. Priority areas were selected based on prior analysis and <br />mapped using census data. The City aims for efficiency by replacing full blocks rather than <br />individual homes. <br />The replacement work is scheduled alongside the PFAS North Station project, with a goal to <br />complete all replacements by 2028. Overall, the City is requesting $25 million in SRF funds: $12 <br />million (repayable) for the PFAS North Station, $8 million (repayable) for the Edison project, and <br />$5 million (forgivable) for lead line replacements. <br />Mr. Gilot asked about Ion exchange or granular activated carbon, adding that the City is familiar <br />with granular activated carbon, at least a couple other well fields and it is very forgiving; there's <br />not much to do. He asked if the ion exchange was a vulnerable process where the operators have <br />to pay close attention in order to produce good results, or is it pretty much like the GAC? <br />Mr. Rackow of Black and Veatch Engineering advised that there is a long evaluation memo talking <br />about the operational aspects of it and the efficiency of it, and when you expect to see <br />breakthrough, it is basic. It's very similar to granular carbon. It doesn't look the same at all, but <br />once it's in there, it's doing its work. He noted a few operational concerns, like right away, you <br />have to waste a couple bit and then you have to add some extra chlorine and there's a few little <br />anecdotal things on the side you do, but It's not really that different than granular activated carbon <br />to like the North Plant is working through. The breakthrough was the best within exchange and it's <br />more targeted for these chemicals, granule activated carbon can attack a whole bunch of things, <br />including PFAS and exchange resins are specifically targeted and they will just be getting out the <br />plastics. A single in -life cycle cost was another aspect that really stood out above and beyond <br />granular activated carbon. <br />Mr. Gilot asked that if the City experiences another volatile organic compound, will the ionic <br />exchange do anything for that that GAC would. Mr. Rackow advised that they would be looking <br />at exactly what it is and whether or not it would worsen if you had granular activated carbon. You'd <br />probably be thinking you would be covered to some extent, so it has been a nice plus from my <br />point of view, but that is just a personal note. <br />Mr. Gilot stated that it is Engineering's judgment, having dealt with a lot of well fields that were <br />impacted by volatile organic compounds. Mr. Rackow noted that they initially assumed GAC <br />would come out better in the study and it did not come out better from a cost or from an efficiency <br />of removals. Engineer Barber stated that each plant may be different, so we will learn from North <br />Station and we will learn more through the design as we go through that process. <br />Mr. Gilot stated that the number of laterals exceeded 50,000 so that must include a lot of laterals <br />that are outside the city limits. Engineer Barber advised that they include everything that the City <br />services, so it goes to the areas outside of the city limits that we service. <br />Board Member, Murray Miller asked if the City would be replacing the lead service line or if the <br />homeowners will have a cost. The last time there was not a cost to homeowners if he remembered <br />