UTICA, N.Y. - The Oneida County Department of Water Quality and Water Pollution Control is accepting bids for sanitary sewer manhole rehabilitation.

The construction work will occur across the municipalities that are served by the Sauquoit Creek Pumping Station. The project is estimated to cost $1.8 million.

“Oneida County is committed to moving forward with the work needed to ensure that the essential infrastructure for our communities is upgraded to meet necessary standards,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. “The sanitary sewer issue is one that we have studied exhaustively in preparation for construction, and I am pleased that we are able to move forward into a new phase of activity.”

A pre-bid meeting will be held at 11 a.m. on February 9, at the offices of Oneida County Department of Water Quality and Water Pollution Control, 51 Leland Avenue in Utica. Bids will be accepted until 11 a.m. on February 23.

Picente says the winning bidder will be responsible for furnishing all labor and materials, and performing all work for this phase of the Oneida County Sewer District (OCSD) Sanitary Sewer Overflow Mitigation Program. The work is being funded through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program as administered by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation.

“We are now at the point where we’ll be putting shovels in the ground, another milestone in this major infrastructure project,” said Steven P. Devan, P.E., commissioner of the Oneida County Department of Water Quality and Water Pollution Control.

“Completing the Sewer Overflow Mitigation Project is a critical step in upgrading our environmental infrastructure — a major component of the region’s economic development plan,” Devan said. “Excess storm water and groundwater in the sewer system reduces capacity that could otherwise be used by businesses. It also imposes unnecessary costs on the rate payers through the treatment of water that would not otherwise need to be treated,” he noted.

Contractors interested in obtaining plans and specifications are asked to contact the Department of Water Quality and Water Pollution Control.