Geneva City Council approved a package of agreements and construction contracts to build a new sanitary sewer crossing beneath the Fox River and a screening building at the wastewater treatment plant.

The actions, taken during the council and committee-of-the-whole sessions, included pipeline-crossing agreements with Union Pacific Railroad (for the sanitary sewer and for fiber optic conduit), a construction contract with Whitaker Construction and Excavating for the river crossing, a construction contract with Williams Brothers Construction for the screening building, and a professional-services agreement with Fairgram Engineering for construction engineering services.

The council heard from City Administrator Voigt and Superintendent Van Gescow, who explained the items are the construction phase following prior design work. The low Whitaker bid for the sanitary sewer river crossing was reported as approximately $4,335,000, about 21% below the engineer’s estimate. The Williams Brothers bid for the screening building was reported at $6,290,000, about 13% under the estimate; that screening-building project is funded through the Illinois EPA Water Pollution Control Loan Program (IEPA WPCLP). The council also authorized a Fairgram contract for construction-phase engineering services (administration, pay‑request submittals to IEPA and construction observation) with a not-to-exceed amount of $987,000.

Council members asked about scope and contingencies. Superintendent Van Gescow confirmed the Fairgram design amendment approved earlier in the evening (to cover unanticipated design and permitting hours) added $54,000 to the earlier design contract, bringing certain design totals above the original not-to-exceed amount; the construction‑phase engineering agreement approved in committee will cover the 18‑month construction period and associated IEPA loan administration.

The council voted by voice or roll call on each item. Staff reported the competitive bids produced amounts below engineers’ estimates, and administrators said splitting the overall work into discrete contracts (river crossing, screening building, and construction engineering) helped produce competitive pricing and better manage IEPA loan disbursement requirements. A Fairgram memo raising permitting and scope justifications was included in the packet and referenced at the meeting.

Council members emphasized that the projects will be managed through standard construction administration and that the IEPA loan funding requires careful pay‑request documentation. Representatives from Fairgram and the city’s public works/sanitary staff remained available to answer questions during both council and committee sessions.

The actions taken authorize the city to move into construction and construction administration phases for both the river crossing and the screening building projects; project funding and loan administration are in the packet materials and referenced by staff.