Contractor bids for new equipment at the village wastewater treatment plant came in more than $100,000 below the anticipated costs, and the lowest bid was accepted by the village board of trustees at their Nov. 28 meeting.

“These are very good results,” said Mayor Marty Hubbard. “A very reputable firm was the low bidder.”

The village trustees unanimously agreed to spend $272,000 for three Rotational Biological Contactors, or RBCs, with an option to also buy a fourth RBC for $109,000, as bid by Koester Associates of Canastota.

The cost of the equipment is for materials only and does not include the removal of the old RBCs or the installation of the new RBCs, which will be done by village Department of Public Works employees, Hubbard said.

The project will be funded with cash on hand from the village bank account and will not be financed, Hubbard said.

Of the four bids received by the village, the prices ranged from $272,000 to $624,215.

RBCs are 26-foot-long by 12-foot-wide cylinder-shaped pieces of equipment, made mostly of plastic, that continually rotate, passing waste water through the liners, thereby removing anaerobic bacteria (organic materials and ammonia) out of the water. The RBC process is one step in the total village water treatment process.

Currently, one of the four RBCs is broken, one is the sister machine to the broken one and therefore causes concern that it too may break, and the other two RBCs are more than 30 years old and “are beyond their useful life,” according to Village Director of Municipal Operations Bob Lotkowictz.

“We can’t wait, we’re running on three now,” Lotkowicz had told the village board at its Nov. 10 meeting.

The wastewater treatment plant must have two RBCs working at all times in order to keep the plant running effectively.

With the bid approved by the board, Lotkowicz said he would submit the order for the new RBCs on Tuesday, Nov. 29. It will take 12 to 14 weeks for delivery, making the likely installation date sometime in March, Lotkowicz said.

At the board’s November meeting, Lotkowicz said the price to purchase three new RBCs could be between $400,000 and $600,000, and the accepted bid of $272,000 is a great price.

Hubbard agreed. “This is an excellent deal, I think,” he told the board after the vote.

Also at the meeting:

—The trustees voted to retain Excellus BC/BS Healthy Blue as the village’s health insurance provider, which was used by the village in 2011. In a prepared statement read by Mayor Hubbard, the trustees decided to retain Healthy Blue because it contains a rewards component that allows subscribers to earn money for leading healthy lifestyles. The 2012 premium for Healthy Blue will increase by 6.3 percent over 2011.

“The village is confident of its due diligence in considering which insurance plan to offer village employees throughout 2012, and the decision to continue offering the Healthy Blue plan with its promotion of healthy every day life,” according to the trustees’ statement.

—Village Attorney Michael J. Byrne submitted to the board a tentative draft of Local Law No. 4, changing the terms of office of the mayor and trustees, and changing the schedule of village elections from annual to biennial.

The trustees have scheduled a public hearing on the law for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8. The text of the proposed law can be read on the village’s website, villageofskaneateles.com.

—The trustees voted unanimously to authorize the mayor to renew the annual substance abuse testing agreement with IMA, as required by federal law.

—The trustees voted unanimously to authorize the mayor to sign the 2012 fire service agreement with the town of Skaneateles, which is an annual renewal of the contract to provide fire protection to the town.

—The trustees unanimously approved to continue the pre-existing snow plowing agreement between the village and Parkside subdivision.

Jason Emerson is editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at [email protected].