Jim Thorpe borough approved a notice of intent Thursday night to award two contracts, general mechanical and electrical, for its upcoming sewer treatment upgrades.

Once finalized, the general contract would go to Eastern Environmental Contractors Inc. at a cost of $6,478,600 and the electrical contract would go to the Howard Organization Inc. at a cost of $827,700."The bids came in slightly lower from what we were estimating," said Matthew Boggs of Entech Engineering, following Thursday's council meeting. "We had projected around $7 million for the general and $1.3 million for electrical."The borough received seven bids for the general contract and five for the electrical work.A change from a contact stabilization to a biological nutrient removal process using the IFAS system will allow the plant to meet the more stringent monitoring and discharge criteria to be imposed by the Department of Environmental Protection and Delaware River Basin Commission for nitrogen and phosphorus removal."The next step is getting all the documents in place and agreements signed," Boggs said. "We would project work starting by the end of the year, likely between Thanksgiving and Christmas."Jim Thorpe's current system, constructed in 1965 and expanded in 1977, continues to deteriorate and replacement parts have become both difficult to find and costly to replace.According to Entech, the project will employ 40 to 50 workers during the construction phase.The project also includes the upgrading of the electrical service, the resizing of the pump station, screening will be added to the treatment process, the disinfection system will be upgraded as well as improvements on the physical structures of the buildings and a new roof on the control building.Council previously awarded contracts to Mechanicsburg-based Mr. Rehab Sewer System Rehabilitation for a $432,845.11 sanitary sewer cleaning and televising/manhole rehabilitation, and to Ovivo for an $847,000 IFAS system. IFAS is a fixed-film activated sludge process.The current plant will remain in operation during the project.The plant currently services around 2,100 existing equivalent dwelling units or 1,866 total customers.Funding for the project is coming through Rural Development's water and environmental program.Of that, $6.129 million is a loan that will need to be paid back at 3 percent interest over 38 years, and a $4.549 million grant.