The City of Kenai will contract with Anchorage-based HDL Engineering Consultants for design and engineering of a new water treatment plant pumphouse after a resolution was adopted by unanimous consent of the city council on Wednesday.

During the council’s meeting, City Manager Terry Eubank said the resolution will allow the city to award the contract to HDL, with whom they have an existing agreement for capital projects associated with water, sewer and wastewater facilities.

The firm will create a design for a new pumphouse to replace “outdated equipment and improve overall system resiliency,” the resolution says. That design will be used to solicit bids in late summer, with the hope of seeing construction begin by the end of this year or early next.

The resolution says the contract and purchasing order will be worth roughly $187,000, but Eubank explained during the meeting that the city has obtained funding through the State Department of Environmental Conservation in the form of a $1.2 million loan with 100% forgiveness, expected to cover the entire project, including construction. The city will incur no costs on the project.

Wednesday’s city council meeting can be streamed on the City of Kenai’s YouTube channel.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.