A contractor currently working to remove sludge from large ponds at the south wastewater treatment plant will be on site a bit longer after the Meridian City Council approved a change order expanding the scope of the project.

In a special called meeting Thursday, the council voted unanimously to approve a change order to its contract with Synagro at a cost not to exceed $808,200. The original project, which was awarded in September 2023 at a cost of $3.15 million, included removal of up to 5,000 tons of material from equalizations 2-4.

The approval comes after the council shot down the change order in a 2-3 vote during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.

On Tuesday, James Lewson, with Neel-Schaffer, an engineering firm overseeing projects at the city’s two wastewater treatment plants, explained Synagro was nearing the 5,000 ton cap but the basins still had material that needed to be removed.

The south wastewater treatment plant is equipped with four equalization basins that are used to contain wastewater when storms or heavy rain result in more water flowing into the plant than it can properly treat at one time. Over time, solids in the sewage settle to the bottom and need to be periodically removed.

“This will get all four equalization basins, and we’ll be good to go,” Lewson said.

David Ruhl with Waggoner Engineering previously told council members the basins have not been cleaned in approximately 20 years and are long overdue. Additionally, he said, cleaning out the basins will give the plant more capacity to hold water in heavy rain events.

Councilman Dwayne Davis, who initially voted against approving the change order, said he had a chance to go visit the plant before revisiting the issue Thursday, which helped him get a better understanding of what the council was being asked to approve. Council members had little information about the project prior to it being brought up for a vote in Tuesday’s meeting, he said, and that contributed to his initial decision to vote no.

Although the site visit provided enough information for him to support the change order, Davis said his impression is that some of the problems with the equalization basins could have been avoided with regular upkeep and maintenance. By not addressing the basins earlier, he said, the taxpayers now have to bear the costs of a larger cleanup effort.

“It could have ben something that was so simple and less expensive,” he said.