The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening passed a Resolution honoring retiring Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent George Evans. Evans is wrapping 39-years of service to the City, which Mayor Dave Jones called “A great accomplishment in itself.”

George Evans (left) receives a plaque & congratulations from Mayor Jones

Jones says Evans will stick around for a couple of months, as a consultant to the City and to his replacement, Mark Farrier, until the new 14-million dollar wastewater treatment plant comes on-line. In his final report to the Council, Evans said the new plant will be up-and-running very soon. He says the pre-treatment building on the east side of Sunnyside lane will be online first, with start-up of the main plant sometime in April or May.

City Administrator Doug Harris says the original schedule called for the plant to begin  testing in March, but there was an issue with receiving certain electrical components that caused the timeline to be pushed back slightly. Evans says there’s much testing that needs to be done before the changeover is official. He says they want to keep the old facility available for a little while, until the new plant is fully operational. Evans says that shouldn’t violate any state regulations.

Once the new plant is fully online, the current plant, which is more than 60-years old, will be demolished. Plans to replace the current facility began in 2006, when the Iowa D-N-R ordered the City to build a million-gallon retention basin, or lagoon, because the current facility was deemed incapable of handling storm water run-off during times of intense rain events.