Sunnyside City Council approves lease, donations and emergency wastewater work; tables procurement update

The Sunnyside City Council approved a series of routine and time-sensitive items at its regular meeting, including a 10-year lease to site sewer lift-station equipment, a donation of surplus jail issue clothing to a local nonprofit and two consultant task orders covering a state-mandated climate element and emergency wastewater repairs.

The council’s actions cleared the consent agenda and moved individual items forward: a resolution to declare long-underwear “thermal tops and bottoms” surplus and authorize donation to Camp Hope; a lease permitting placement of new lift station equipment on Sunnyside School District property for $2,400 per year; a contract addendum to develop the city’s climate-change element under a Department of Commerce grant; and a task order to design and administer emergency wastewater repairs related to corroded biogas piping at the wastewater treatment plant. The council also voted to table a revised purchasing and procurement policy so staff can clean up formatting, statutory citations and wording.

Why it matters: the lift-station lease and the wastewater emergency work relate directly to the city’s sewer system operations and capital program; the climate-element work is a state-funded planning requirement that carries both grant dollars and follow-on implementation responsibilities.

Key details and staff notes - Donation of surplus thermal tops and bottoms: Chief Lehman said the items—left over after a change to the jail commissary—have a purchase value of $428 and are unusable by jail residents; the council approved donating the items to Camp Hope. The motion passed on a voice vote (motion approved). - Lease with Sunnyside School District (Lincoln & Ninth): the lease would allow placement of lift-station equipment on school district property for $2,400 annually for 10 years. Interim Public Works staff member Hector Mejia provided a cost estimate for the full lift-station project (the construction estimate included in the packet is approximately $832,000). Stephanie Ray of HLA said Department of Ecology construction funding is unlikely before 2027 and staff are pursuing a YCDA seed application to cover construction costs; she said, “we will not receive construction funding until 2027 because of all their budget shortfalls that they have.” The council authorized the city manager to sign the lease. - Climate element (Task Order 2024-02): the council approved an addendum to the HLA task order to complete the Department of Commerce–funded climate-change element. The Department of Commerce grant totals $150,000 (distributed across two grant years); the addendum amount for consultant services is $82,000. Ray said HLA’s fee does not consume the entire $150,000 and estimated roughly $50,000 would remain with the city for implementation if appropriate projects are identified. - Wastewater emergency improvement (Task Order 2025-3): the council approved a task order to design and administer construction for emergency repairs to biogas piping at the wastewater treatment plant. Ray told the council the plant experienced an overflow of digester sludge that routed into biogas piping after a digester mixer failed; piping was found corroded and missing under protective sheathing. The city secured Public Works Board emergency funding consisting of a $500,000 grant and a $500,000 loan; the project requires rapid procurement to meet a 90‑day start requirement and long‑lead equipment such as a methane flare may take many weeks to deliver. - Purchasing and procurement policy: councilors said the draft policy in the packet contained strikethroughs, inconsistent dollar thresholds and out‑of‑date references to state WAC/RCW citations. Council voted to table the resolution and asked staff to return a cleaned, finalized version at the next regular meeting.

Votes at a glance - Consent agenda (minutes, payroll and check registers): approved (motion carried; roll call recorded affirmative votes). Tally: unanimous recorded yes votes. - Resolution declaring thermal wear surplus and authorizing donation to Camp Hope: approved (motion carried unanimously). - Resolution allowing the city manager to sign 10-year lease with Sunnyside School District ($2,400/yr): approved (motion carried unanimously). - Resolution authorizing execution of Development of Climate Element, Task Order 2024-02: approved (motion carried unanimously). - Resolution authorizing Wastewater Emergency Improvement Project, Task Order 2025-3: approved (motion carried unanimously). - Purchasing and procurement policy update: tabled for staff cleanup and statutory verification (motion to table approved).

Discussion vs. decisions - Discussion and clarifying questions focused on scope and funding sources (HLA’s cost estimate, Ecology grant timing, YCDA seed application) and on whether exhibits and property descriptions would be corrected in the lease; councilors asked for clearer invoice breakdowns for large check-register items prior to meetings. Formal council decisions were the approvals listed above and the motion to table the procurement policy.

Implementation and next steps - Staff were asked to correct the lease exhibits and provide clearer invoice itemizations for large claim entries. City staff and HLA will proceed with climate-element tasks under the grant schedule; staff will apply for additional seed funding and bring contract/documents back as procurement milestones require. The wastewater task order moves the project into the design and procurement phase with an accelerated schedule because of long‑lead equipment and the emergency declaration.

Speakers quoted or cited in the meeting record include Interim City Manager Mr. Bridges, Hector Mejia (public works staff), Stephanie Ray (HLA consultant), Chief Lehman (police), Deputy Mayor Galvan and councilors Hancock, Ripley, Hart and Vasquez; direct quotes in this article are drawn from the meeting transcript of those speakers.