Town officials and stakeholders got a good idea of how much it might cost to study the North Platte River Friday afternoon.
Three representatives from Stantec, the firm chosen by a seven-man selection committee, met with the committee and others from Saratoga to present a projected budget for a river study and also to iron out some details.
Stantec will act as the main firm for the study and Wildland Hydrology will assist with the study. Both firms were chosen because of their previous work on the North Platte River near Encampment, Mayor John Zeiger said in the meeting.
Nathan Jean, an engineer for Stantec, presented the estimaqted budget, which showed hourly rates of employees, projected hours of employees, hours employees may work and overall projects costs. After showing all attendeesthe estimate, Jean left the floor open for discussion.
“This is our first stab at (a budget). We need to talk to you as a community to make sure this is alright,” he said.
The projected budget was broken down into six separate project costs: project management, office investigation, field data collection, downstream impairment identification, river restoration and permitting. The overall projected cost for Stantec to complete all projects is about $245,000. The $245,000 would not cover actual construction to fix the river.
Some selection committee members felt Stantec’s initial estimate was too high to purchase all six steps.
In order to complete the study, the town of Saratoga would have to contract with Stantec to do the first three steps, which would cost roughly $103,000, according to Stantec’s estimated budget. The town of Saratoga has set aside $80,000 for the study. The Saratoga Encampment Rawlins Conservation District (SERCD) is prepared to offer $30,000 for the project, Glen Leavengood said in the meeting.
Jean told the audience and selection committee the plan was flexible and it could be done.
“We can handle this in any way that works best with you guys,” Jean said.
Jean’s only concern was, if the town of Saratoga waited too long between step three and step five, the data collected may not be valid, he said.
Some selection committee thought getting a grant for steps five and six would be the best option.
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