City Council recently awarded an $850,000 contract to continue planned upgrades at the city’s water treatment plant on Westfield Avenue.

AR-228-14 was approved at special meeting Dec. 3, awarding a $852,929 contract to CME Associates. The Parlin-based firm submitted a proposal on Oct. 31 for bidding and construction phase services for replacement of the existing gravity filters with a new membrane treatment system.

City Council previously awarded contracts of $572,000 for designing a new membrane system, as well as supplemental engineering and consulting contracts for almost $100,000. The governing body approved a 10-percent water rate hike in August 2013 to help cover the cost of the $16.6-million upgrade to the water treatment plant along with a $1.4-million bond ordinance to cover the early phase contracts.