Program Manager Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Small Shovel Big Hole: The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District's Small Contractor Program M.T. Buechter1 1Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103-2555; PH (314) 768-6272; FAX (314) 768-6302; e-mail: mtbuec@stlmsd.com ABSTRACT Prior to the formation of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) the City of St. Louis, St. Louis County, and the various municipalities handled sanitary and stormwater drainage issues independently. In 1954 increasing frustration with the status quo lead to the formation of MSD by state constitutional amendment. Today, MSD is the fourth largest sewer district (based on miles of pipe) in the U.S., and roughly forty percent of the regulated MS4s in Missouri are located within its boundaries. The fragmented nature of MSD’s founding resulted in creating infrastructure systems that are complicated, historic, and challenging to maintain. To help efficiently complete maintenance of these systems, while providing opportunities to local contractors, MSD created the Small Contractor Program. The program offers bidding opportunities, under $50,000, with minimum requirements for small, minority, or woman contractors that are ready to expand their capabilities. The type of work completed includes structure/pipe replacements, point repair of sewers, small sewer extensions and sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) removals. The program has been successful in efficiently completing the needed work, nearly $5 million and over 300 projects last fiscal year alone. The program also provided numerous opportunities to contractors in the area with 39 currently (September 2023) participating in the program, including 10 minority, or woman contractors. In short, the program complies with all applicable purchasing requirements and regulations, efficiently completes important work, and allows opportunities to the local workforce.
