Committee approves staff-level authority to award two city sewer repair contracts

The Green Bay Improvement and Services Committee on June 18 approved requests from the Department of Public Works to allow staff to award two citywide sanitary sewer repair contracts so construction can begin quickly this season.

The move covered the department’s annual city sewer repair contract and a separate set of “mini” sewer repairs. Public Works Director said the requests were driven by meeting timing and recent engineering turnover, and asked the committee to allow the awards to be made at the staff level rather than waiting for a future committee meeting. "This is our annual city sewer repair contract that we go up for every year in repairing, you know, cracks and breaks in the sanitary sewer. We're asking for approval to award at the staff level just because of the timing of the upcoming meetings as well as we had some engineer turnover and, other people had to pick up the work to get the contract done," the Public Works Director said.

The department emphasized timing as the main rationale: "we wanna make sure we can award them right away so that construction can start quickly as we're getting into the season already," the Public Works Director added. Alder DeLee made the motion to approve the staff-level awards; Alder Eck seconded. The committee recorded the motion as carried.

Allowing staff to award the contracts shortens the procurement-to-construction timeline for routine sanitary sewer repairs such as crack and break patching. The committee chair said the items will advance to the full council for final approval as required by council procedure.

No dollar amounts, contractors, or bid results for the two sewer contract items were specified in the committee discussion. The committee set its next Improvement and Services Committee meeting for July 9, 2025.