A project to fix one of Fairhope's wastewater choke points and help keep up with population growth is $1,154,696 closer after officials accepted a grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

The project would replace the aging headworks at the Fairhope sewage treatment plant and cost over $5 million. It was first brought before Fairhope City Council Jan. 23. They approved the ADEM grant last week.

The city applied for $5,773,480 as a Clean Water State Revolving Fund project originally, but ADEM offered $1,154,696 from the State of Alabama's American Rescue Plan Act, called ARPA, fund instead. The city would have to find alternative funding for the remaining project costs.

The shortfall in the grant funding caused council member Jack Burrell to ask if the project is needed and suggested the city get a second opinion.

"This project needs to go through, especially with Fairhope's growth," said Water Superintendent Daryl Morefield, who was recently installed. "It has to be done. The headworks is antiquated and old, and it's a choke point for the whole system."

Morefield said new headworks, which is where all the sewage comes into the plant, would speed the process up and help prevent overflows. It would also prevent grit, grease and other items from getting into the system and wearing out the pumps and would provide redundancy. He also explained the current headworks are hard to source parts for due to their age.

Council member Corey Martin asked if replacing the headworks is the way to go as opposed to building another facility. He asked Moorefield if there is any point at which Fairhope will need another facility.

"Not with our current footprint. We can expand where we are at. I think the issue is going to be with relocating another wastewater plant," Moorefield said. "You are going to have to go inland because I don't think ADEM will allow us to build another this close to the bay. If you move inland, where are you going to discharge 3-4 million gallons of treated water a day? It has got to be discharged somewhere."

Another point Morefield made was the new headworks would help eliminate smells that radiate from the wastewater plant that result in complaints. Council asked Morefield if the charcoal filter that would add odor control would add cost to the project and, if so, to consider not getting it.

Martin asked if the $5.8 million was the price with "bells and whistles or just to get it done?"

Morefield said the cost was just to get it done and provide odor control.

"I don't dispute anything you just said, and I have heard the redundancy and it is a really good argument, but I guess when you are spending $6 million I don't want a water treatment salesman selling me more of a plant than I need when you can get it done for $4 million," Burrell said. "I wouldn't mind paying someone to give us a second opinion on that."

Morefield said the city has multiple engineering firms "that have given us ideas and rough costs, so we are assessing that now."

Council agreed that the project and additional funding still needs to be determined but that it is best to accept the grant.