Rison Approves Firm To Oversee Water, Sewer Work

RISON - The Rison City Council unanimously approved hiring Tolm Group of Morrilton during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday night to serve as the construction manager to oversee the renovations to the city's wastewater treatment plant as well as refurbishing both city water tanks. The City of Rison decided previously to use a construction manager to oversee both projects that are being funded through two grants totaling more than $5.5 million. The federal money is coming from the American Rescue Plan Act. The city received $3.9 million to improve the wastewater treatment plant on Hwy. 79, and $1.62 million to refurbish the water tanks at Veterans Park and next to the courthouse. Brian Rohlman, president of Tolm Group, was at Tuesday night's council meeting. He told the council that Tolm has specialized in municipal water projects for cities of various sizes across the state. Rison Utilities Director Joe Freyer said he worked with Tolm on a $17 million project at Little Rock. Rohlman said it will take his company about 30 to 45 days to collect bids from contractors to see exactly how much it will cost to do the projects. Mayor Charles Roberts later asked Rohlman if the project could be completed within the grant budget. He answered that he would have to wait to see how the bids come in. According to Rohlman, Tolm is technically serving as a "construction manager at risk" (CMAR) for the proejct. Under that arrangement, the CMAR secures various bids associated with the project and then provides the customer with a "guaranteed maximum price," which means the project will cost no more than that amount. Roberts told the city council before voting to accept Tolm as the construction manager that the city is working against a grant deadline to get the project started and completed. "Time is our enemy on this project," Roberts said. The mayor said the city must have signed contracts for the projects by March 31,...