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Votes at a glance: Council approves Elm Meadows contract, CPEP amendment, Laughlin Meadows bid advertisement, and CDBG assistance request
Summary
Council approved four agenda items by unanimous vote: a low-bid contract for Elm Meadows construction, an amendment to the city’s CPEP gas prepayment agreement, authorization to advertise Laughlin Meadows bids, and a CDBG assistance request for a Bruckman Rubber expansion.
The Hastings City Council took several formal actions in a single meeting, voting unanimously on construction contracts, utility agreements and economic development assistance.
Elm Meadows Subdivision (Van Kirk Brothers low bid) The council approved an agreement with Van Kirk Brothers Contracting to complete water, sewer and paving work in the Elm Meadows Subdivision. Staff reported three bids were opened on March 5; Van Kirk Brothers was the low bidder at $1,067,401.13, below the engineer’s estimate of approximately $1,250,000 and below the budgeted amount of $1,200,000. Work is scheduled to begin in the May–June timeframe, depending on contractor availability and weather. The council approved the agreement after staff restated the low bid amount on the record; motion passed unanimously.
CPEP gas prepayment amendment (Resolution 2025-11) Council approved Resolution No. 2025-11 authorizing the City to proceed with an amendment to its gas supply agreement with Central Plains Energy Project (CPEP) related to a reset of the available discount for the CPEP gas prepayment Project No. 2. Derek (utilities staff) told council CPEP 2 has generated savings to date and that the reset could yield up to nearly $1 million in additional savings over the next seven years; the utility advisory board recommended approval. Resolution passed 7-0.
Laughlin Meadows Seventeenth Subdivision (Resolution 2025-12) The council approved plan specifications and authorized staff to advertise for bids on the Laughlin Meadows Seventeenth Subdivision water and paving project. Staff said the bid opening date will be April 16 and that plans and specifications are being advanced because the work is in an established improvement district. Resolution passed 7-0.
Bruckman Rubber expansion — CDBG assistance request (Resolution 2025-13) Council approved a resolution requesting assistance from the South Central Economic Development District to prepare a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application to support a planned expansion by Bruckman Rubber (listed in packet as "Bruckman" or similar spellings). Shannon (HEDC) described the project as equipment upgrades, increased raw material storage and a job-creation element; preliminary project figures discussed in the meeting were in the neighborhood of $650,000. CDBG typically requires a local match (discussed at around 50 percent) and HEDC would serve as subrecipient on the grant; if project thresholds are met, roughly half of the grant assistance may be forgiven and any remaining funds typically return to the HEDC revolving loan fund to support future projects. The resolution passed 7-0.
Each action was recorded with a unanimous council vote. The meeting packet and staff reports contain the full project descriptions, engineer estimates and bid documents; the council’s approvals were limited to the motions on the meeting agenda and did not themselves authorize additional expenditures beyond the items on which the council voted.
