By Jody Hanson

Since 2018, Johnson County Wastewater and its partners have been studying, planning, strategizing and reimagining the rebuild of the Nelson Wastewater Treatment Plant. It will be the largest capital project in the county’s history — updating our oldest wastewater treatment facility to be the newest.

The BOCC has studied the project alongside staff and has made many policy and funding decisions along the way. Most recently, on Dec. 7, the BOCC authorized a loan agreement with the State of Kansas and increased the total project authorization to just under $610 million.

There has been a massive amount of work and innovation to strategically phase this project, procure the best project estimates and sub-contractor bids, come up with creative cost-saving ideas and utilize financing options that provide much lower interest rates than traditional methods. The result will be a savings of more than $210 million for the project.

Because of the ongoing strategy and planning, the increase in project costs will not impact the JCW’s rate schedule projections of 5% annual increases through 2031. Johnson County Wastewater has the second-lowest rates in the metro area.

Nelson was built in the late 1940s and is now at the end of its useful life. Existing technology won’t meet future regulatory requirements for handling wet weather nor removing nutrients. This major project closely follows the reconstruction of the system’s second-largest facility, Tomahawk Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility, which was completed in Spring 2022 on time and on budget.

The rebuild of the Nelson facility is a major component of JCW’s 25-year Integrated Plan.

The Nelson project team has taken an innovative approach to financing this project and has secured two different low-interest loan sources, saving an estimated $133 million in financing costs as opposed to the more traditional general obligation bonds.

The team has come up with several ways to control costs of the Nelson project. One approach, called Value Engineering, utilizes creativity to come up with alternatives that save dollars without sacrificing quality. Continuing to refine and improve on efficiency of delivery has created about $61 million in savings.

In addition, the project team utilized the Guaranteed Maximum Pricing model with a staged and strategic approach to lock in pricing as soon as it was known. This allowed the team to tackle the components of the project, saving an estimated $20 million as well as 12-18 months of construction duration.

The project is being constructed in phases with various key milestones to allow portions of the existing treatment facility to remain in service. Construction, which started in 2023, will be completed in 2030.

This is a complex and challenging project in a challenging time. The Nelson project is meeting these challenges with teamwork, expertise and collaboration. The team is poised to deliver another successful wastewater treatment facility rebuild that will serve future generations in Johnson County. Please learn more at jcwnelson.com.

Jody Hanson is director of public affairs and communications at the Johnson County Manager’s Office.