MDM Construction Inc., of Hayden, Idaho, has submitted an apparent low bid of $2.3 million for the fourth and final phase of a multiyear sewering project in the Greenacres area. The project, which will entail installing 3.8 miles of eight-inch sewer pipe, more than three-quarters of a mile of 10-inch sewer pipe, and more than 1.5 miles of lateral lines, is expected to begin later this month and to be completed next summer, says Louis Graf, a Spokane County project manager.

The sewer project will involve work on all the streets in the area bounded by Mission Avenue, Interstate 90, Barker Road, and Flora Road, which is in the city of Spokane Valley, Graf says. Spokane County coordinates sewer projects within the city of Spokane Valley.

Because the streets in that area are narrow, a temporary closure will be required on each street as trenches are dug and sewer pipe is laid, Graf says.

The first half of the phase-four project is expected to be completed this year. After a winter shutdown, work will resume as weather allows next year, Graf says.

Meanwhile, phase three of the overall project is about one-third complete, Graf says. Owens Construction Inc., of Coeur d'Alene, won the contract for that $1.7 million project, which is being done in an area between Mission Avenue and the Spokane River that's just north of the phase four project area. Work began on the phase-three project in late March and is expected to be completed by the end of September. The overall project is designed to serve 550 homes and will cost $7.4 million.

The projects are part of Spokane County's $38 million six-year sewer construction capital improvement program for 2010 to 2015, which is intended to reduce use of septic tanks over the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, as required by the state and the Spokane County Health District. The program is funded by a $3.8 million annual grant from the state, by sewer connection fees, by county aquifer protection fees, and by the county's general facilities fund.

Other sewer projects slated for work in 2010 include what are being called the Corbin and Cronk projects, located southeast of the Greenacres project; the West Farms project, which is bordered by Sanson Avenue on the north, Wellesley Avenue on the south, McDonald Road on the west, and Best Road on the east; the Pine River project north of the Wandermere area in north Spokane County; and along U.S. 2 and the North Spokane Corridor construction.