The City Council Committee of the Whole approved purchase agreements Monday to acquire land needed to expand the South End Drainway, a stormwater-storage improvement recommended by this year’s South End stormwater study.

City staff said the planned expansion will widen the existing channel by roughly 75 feet to increase storage capacity from the interstate to South 30 Fourth Street. Danielson, the city project manager for stormwater, told council the city has negotiated with two property owners, Sanford and Eusselbinger, and will pay $30,000 per acre for development parcels and a lower rate of $7,500 per acre for existing slope easements that have limited development value. “That $30,000 is kind of where those numbers were sitting, when we looked at those projects,” Danielson said. Between the two property owners the city will acquire about 3.6 acres for a total purchase price of $74,430.

Danielson said the purchase-price benchmarks were drawn from earlier city acquisitions of private land for public infrastructure. He also noted slight wording differences between the two purchase agreements that reflect corporate-structure requests from the Sanford ownership; the city attorney’s office reviewed and approved the forms.

Councilmember Sasowski asked whether the transaction was budgeted for 2025; staff said the line item for the acquisition is in the 2026 budget but recommended a budget amendment to move the specific purchase into 2025 accounting. Council approved the purchase agreements by voice vote; the motion was moved by Osovski and seconded by Friedoffs and passed unanimously.

The land purchase is one of several recommended steps from the city’s South End stormwater study, including expanding on-site ponds and increasing channel storage. City staff said the acquisitions are required before grubbing, grading and channel-widening work can proceed. Staff flagged that once properties are acquired, subsequent construction and right-of-way work will be scheduled and funded through the city’s drainage and flood-protection budgets.

Council did not adopt construction contracts for the channel work at Monday’s meeting; the agenda item covered only closing the purchases needed to obtain the required land footprint.