YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s board of control is expected today to approve a $42,771,942 contract for the first two phases of a four-part project to keep wastewater from flowing into Mill Creek Park lakes.

The cost of the project was estimated between $28 million and $43 million, based on a determination by MS Consultants Inc., the Youngstown company paid $4.8 million to design most of the project.

Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works, acknowledged the $42,771,942 price from Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Co., the Youngstown company selected for the project by a city committee, is as close to the maximum amount as possible.

Despite MS’s cost range for the project, Shasho said Wednesday that the low end was never a realistic option.

“The $28 million was very preliminary,” he said. “That $28 million number was never talked about. Sometimes people put a low number in there to attract more bidders. That was not a number that I heard. The number was always in the low 40s.”

Besides Marucci & Gaffney, Rudzik Excavating Inc. of Struthers was the only other company that sought the contract.

Those on the three-person committee that selected Marucci & Gaffney said the company had more experience with these projects, particularly in Mill Creek Park and with the city.

Jim Tressa, Rudzik’s senior estimator / project manager, has said his company has more experience with this work, the city never called the company’s references and he believed city officials planned to hire Marucci & Gaffney before the process even started.

Rudzik’s documents stated the company’s goal was to finish the project at a cost of $30 million. But city Deputy Law Director Lou D’Apolito said in August that estimate wasn’t based on anything.

Shasho said Wednesday of Rudzik’s $30 million number, “If I would have called them out on it, it would have changed. The cost is in the low $40s and the number is what we thought it would be.”

Marucci & Gaffney does extensive work for the city. For example, on today’s board of control agenda are a $70,111 payment to the company for the emergency installation of a storm sewer and drainage swale on Seifert Avenue, $24,865 for the emergency repair to a storm sewer line along South Wendover Circle, $17,716 for the emergency replacement of two catch basins and outgoing lines, and $3,408 for emergency repairs to a storm sewer on Orrin Avenue.

The agenda also includes four emergency sewer contracts with Utility Contracting of Youngstown, with the most expensive one being $23,404.

For the Mill Creek interceptor sewer project, the city chose for the first time ever to use a “construction manager at risk” method rather than traditional bidding.

After Marucci & Gaffney were selected based on qualifications, it finished the final 10% of the design work with the city negotiating the project and the cost with the company, Shasho said.

If the cost goes over the agreed-upon amount, Marucci & Gaffney is responsible for the expense under the agreement.

The method was chosen because it will speed up the completion of the project and eliminate the city’s financial risk, Shasho said.

As part of those negotiations, a project to rehabilitate and repair a sewer line from Belle Vista Avenue to Milton Avenue was added as well as work near the park’s Fellows Riverside Gardens to eliminate an additional sewer overflow, Shasho said.

The Mill Creek Park work is part of a large wastewater improvement project being done in phases by the city as part of a federal consent decree.

The work for the first two of four phases to an interceptor sewer project would keep wastewater from 13 sewer lines — with a 14th line added — from flowing into Mill Creek Park’s Lake Glacier and Lake Cohasset.

The first two phases will focus on Lake Glacier, eliminating four of the 14 overflow lines, Shasho said. The project will replace about 8,000 to 9,000 linear feet of sewer lines that range in size from 36 inches to 60 inches with a new 96-inch sewer line.

There will also be bridge work, river crossings, efforts to lower the lake and the relocation of utilities, Shasho said.

The work is supposed to start in January, but Shasho said he wants the work to begin sooner.

The project is supposed to be finished no later than May 29, 2028, but Shasho said he expected it to be done in late 2027.

When the work starts, several streets, trails and structures at the park will be closed during the duration of the project.

The city is still awaiting word on a requested $5 million Senate appropriation for the interceptor sewer project and has requested principal forgiveness on a loan from the state, Shasho said.

“We never stop begging for money,” he said. “The worst case is we borrow $43 million from the state.”