Council updated on wastewater treatment options and rate-study data access; staff seeking contract/data clarity
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Summary
Council received an update on a wastewater rate study: staff said a prior consultant provided only a summary and is not sharing raw data; city staff are seeking alternatives and have asked for guidance from engineering and legal staff on data access and next steps.
City staff told the Lincoln City Council on June 5 that the city is evaluating long-term wastewater-treatment options and is working through a rate study, but the city has encountered a data access issue with prior contractor work.
Planning staff and the auditor said a rate-study summary prepared by an external consultant exists, but the consultant is not willing to provide raw data or the underlying datasets — only the summary. Staff said their first step is to review the original contract terms to see what data the city may be entitled to and to identify what additional information the city needs to move forward if the original data are not available.
The city has asked internal staff (including Colin and Matt, named in the transcript) to identify specific datasets required to complete or supplement the rate study. Staff expects this assessment and next steps to be available at a future meeting; council directed staff to continue efforts to obtain the data or recreate required datasets if necessary.
No final decisions were made on treatment options or rates during the meeting; staff emphasized the process will take months and noted the city is reviewing all viable alternatives before making a recommendation.