Contract awarded for chloride tank removal

A contract for an on-site chloride tank removal and its replacement project was unanimously awarded to Phoenix Environmental Inc. at the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, September 14. The current 12,000 gallon chloride tank, which is essential in the regular maintenance of gravel roads and emergency response for salting roads in the winter, was installed in 1997 and is near the end of its 25-year life cycle. As part of the replacement project, Phoenix Environmental Inc. will replace the tank with three 6,000 gallon vertical tanks. Two of the tanks will be used in tandem to achieve the 12,000 gallon capacity, while the third will be used to store salt brine, which can be used as an anti-icing agent. Once applied prior to an incoming storm it can help prevent snow from binding to the road surface. It was explained to trustees by Lance Scram, fleet and facilities manager. “It’s a pre-treatment for storms.” The replacement system is expected to work well with the large tank capacity the township currently has on two incoming plow trucks, which have been purchased and will arrive prior to the 2021-2022 winter season. While Phoenix Environmental Inc. was the only submitted sealed bid and is within the budget, the township normally hopes for at least three bidsbut Scram said they were confident in the company’s abilities for this project. The bid from Phoenix Environmental Inc. was for $98,773, and the funding for the project had already been approved in the facilities budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021. Scram said once awarded, they were looking to do the project in January or February of 2021.