It’s “good news for Winnfield,” councilman Matt Miller began Tuesday night when he announced that the city has received a $3.5 million grant for long-needed sewer system upgrades and improvements.

“This is a large project,” Miller told the Journal. “We can’t get it all done (the entire system) but we can make some good headway. This is great news. There hasn’t been anything major done on this for the system in many years”

One main focus of the work will be replacing the generator at the sewer plant. This is a critical issue, notably in times of power outages, the councilman said. Involved will be updating technology which he called “antiquated” to help bring the system up to standard. Major improvements on lift stations will be part of the package.

Work from another portion of the grant will identify areas where rainwater is entering into the sewer system, burdening the equipment. “That problem will be remedied. This project will bring about a major improvement for the city and it’s all coming through a state grant.”

The council unanimously agreed to three motions made by Miller. The first, called “Bid 1,” was accepting the bid by Womack and Sons Construction Group, LLC, for $1.38 million for one phase of the overall project. A second was bid change, reducing Bid 1 by about $120,000 “from areas that could be saved and shifting that to other areas to better benefit the system.”

The third item was acceptance of the bid from Suncoast Infrastructures, Inc. of $2.57 million for the remainder of the grant contract work.