FARMER'S KORNER — Groundbreaking for Upper Blue Sanitation District's $27 million expansion project at Farmer's Korner is expected to occur in the next three weeks, said district manager Andy Carlberg.

“We are ready to go,” he said. “It's going to be an exciting project.”

The contract for the wastewater reclamation facility was awarded to Glacier Construction at $7 million less than the $34 million estimated six months ago. Construction is expected to take less than two-and-a-half years.

Glacier was the lowest of six qualified bidders with bids ranging to $33 million.

The project has been “in the planning stages for over 10 years, with the final two years in design and permitting,” Carlberg said in an e-mail.

It is financed through tap fees — not property taxes.

The project includes two new buildings totaling 43,000 square feet. It is to be built north of the existing structure at the intersection of Highway 9 and Swan Mountain Road.

Plant capacity is to expand from 2 million to 5 million gallons per day.

The district will encourage participation of local labor and subcontractors throughout the project, Carlberg said.

Formed in 1966, the district built the existing Farmer's Korner Waste Water Treatment Facility in 1974. This facility and the Iowa Hill plant — as well as a decentralized facility in the town of Blue River — comprise the district's treatment services.

The Upper Blue Sanitation District was formerly known as the Breckenridge Sanitation District.

Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.