Escanaba Water Superintendant Jeff Lampi addressed the council Thursday regarding the Water Treatment Plant boiler replacement.

ESCANABA – Escanaba City Council on Thursday approved to hire and retain the services of Berger & King, Inc. to replace the existing boiler system at the city’s water treatment plant.

The company, based in Escanaba, will replace the current boiler with two 1,000,000 British Thermal Unit (1M BTU) boilers. The project total will not exceed $141,341 including $4,000 in contingencies, according to the meeting agenda.

During the bidding process in November, Nathan King, of Berger & King, submitted their bid of $137,341 to complete the project. There were two other bids placed to replace the boiler; Prime, of Marquette, in the amount of $138,846; and Valley Mechanical, of Menominee, $162,500.

“I know we’ve talked about it a couple of years now, too, during our budget prep of boiler issues. It’s aging, it’s failing,” said City Manager James R. McNeil on Thursday.

While McNeil stated he believed the city estimated $120,000 for the boiler project in the budget, he noted the replacement is essential.

Water Superintendent Jeff Lampi addressed the council, saying the city’s water treatment plant currently has one boiler, known as a biological treatment unit (BTU), which will be replaced by two new BTUs.

Berger & King’s proposal states all work associated with the project is to be completed on or before June of this year.

The company has installed boilers for other locations, including Bay College, Munising Housing Commission, Grand Marais Schools, Marquette Culture Center and UP Health Escanaba.

Council also awarded a contract to Giles Engineering Associates, Inc. (Giles) to perform a geotechnical evaluation for the Whitetail Solar Farm in the amount of $14,860.

Solar array installations are to be constructed at the parcel located west of N. 48 St and north of 19 Ave. N. in Escanaba, otherwise known as Whitetail Industrial Park.

Prior to their construction, Giles will perform a geotechnical evaluation on the land to ensure all equipment and solar modules will be properly supported, which includes subsurface exploration, field resistivity testing and soil laboratory testing, as outlined in the company’s proposal.

In early December 2025, Council accepted Peninsula Solar’s bid to purchase the modules for a total of $1,052,082.

According to McNeil, the preliminary wetland evaluation on the land has been completed and the solar modules have arrived.

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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.