LOCKPORT — The city hired an engineering consulting firm to improve its chances of obtaining state grants to pay for three water and sewer projects, city Director of Engineering Norman D. Allen said last week.

O’Brien & Gere, based in Syracuse, was chosen because having an outside consultant seems to net more points in competitive grant applications to the state Environmental Facilities Corp., Allen said.

At the end of July, the city submitted applications for partial reimbursement for repair to two belt presses at the wastewater treatment plant, already completed at a cost of more than $200,000.

Allen said the city will be applying in several months for funding to assist with replacement of aging water and sewer lines beneath city streets, and for repairs to a protective grate over the city’s water intake in the Niagara River at North Tonawanda.

The wooden grate that tries to catch debris before it is drawn into the supply line is deteriorating, Allen said, along with a chlorine feed line installed at the intake’s mouth to kill zebra mussels.

The cost of repairs is estimated at between $50,000 and $100,000. Allen said O’- Brien&Gere is being asked to prepare a firmer estimate.

Water and sewer main replacements are big-ticket items, and this year’s Union Street project is no exception. Allen said the estimate for that work is $250,000, and the city hopes to win some reimbursement.

O’Brien&Gere is being paid $10,280.