Ashtabula City Council approves consent agenda including sewer design, chemical contracts and NOPEC grant

Ashtabula City Council on Jan. 21 unanimously approved a consent agenda that added and adopted multiple ordinances covering a sanitary sewer design contract, water- and wastewater-treatment chemical purchases, a $29,204 NOPEC energy grant, budget adjustments and hiring an accounting firm to prepare the city's ACFR and GAAP conversion. Council President John Roskiewicz presided; the vote was 6-0 with Council Member DiGiacomo excused.

City Manager Timonier opened the items as a package, saying, "A few ordinances to request tonight," and described each recommended contract or ordinance. The council added each item to the meeting agenda by individual motion before moving the set to the consent agenda for adoption.

Why it matters: the measures fund near-term operations for public works and utilities, authorize professional services and accept grant funding that can offset general-fund costs. Several items — notably the chemical contracts and the sanitary-sewer design work — carry specific dollar limits that will be charged to designated funds.

The most significant financial items approved were: - An agreement with GPD Group to provide design engineering, bid documents and construction administration services for the OPWC Michigan Avenue Sanitary Sewer Improvements project, not to exceed $37,300. The manager described the work…