Monona committee approves $95,000 final design contract for library HVAC and signs onto three state traffic-safety grants

The City of Monona Finance and Personnel Committee on March 3 approved a $95,000 agreement with Bridal Engineering to produce final designs for a complete replacement of the library’s lower-level heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system and agreed to participate in three Wisconsin Bureau of Transportation Safety grant programs with reduced award amounts for 2025.

Committee members approved the HVAC design contract after a brief presentation and discussion of schedule. The committee was told the lower-level system will be completely redesigned and is slated for construction next year. "I am really happy to see that we're finally at this phase because we've been working on fixing this since I first became mayor," Mayor O'Connor said during the meeting.

The committee also approved participation in three state traffic-safety grants: the 2025 Capital Area OWI Task Force grant, the 2025 Dane Suburban Seat Belt Task Force grant, and the 2025 Speed Grant Task Force program. Monona Police Department leadership told the committee the Bureau of Transportation Safety received less federal funding this year, and as a result awards to local participants are smaller than in prior years. The police chief said officials would ‘‘spend what we have and then if there are additional funds, we'll add more days’’ for enforcement, and staff discussed a possible supplemental local contribution to restore enforcement days.

Why it matters: the HVAC contract moves a long-running building repair project into final design and toward construction; the grant approvals commit Monona to join regional enforcement partnerships that rely on state and federal funding and may require a local match.

Details of the library contract: the agreement with Bridal Engineering covers final design services for the entire lower-level HVAC system and is described as "phase 3" of the library HVAC project. Committee members were told construction is planned for next year.

Grants and funding discussion: committee members and staff noted that each of the three Bureau of Transportation Safety grants is smaller this year because the state received fewer federal dollars. At the public-safety committee meeting earlier, members discussed restoring funding locally; one staff speaker said restoring enforcement to previous levels could require roughly $3,500 from Monona’s fund balance. The OWI grant was noted to include a local-match requirement, prompting a roll-call vote for that item.

Votes at a glance: - Resolution 25-2-2779 (listed as consideration of agreement for library lower-level HVAC improvements with Bridal Engineering): motion approved (roll call recorded: Alder DePula — Aye; Mayor O'Connor — Aye; Alder Wood — excused). The committee discussed the $95,000 final design fee and noted construction is slated for next year. - Resolution 25-3-2781 (approval of participation in the 2025 Capital Area OWI Task Force grant): motion approved (roll call recorded: Alder DePula — Aye; Mayor O'Connor — Aye). Staff said the award amount was reduced due to lower federal funding to the state; the item carries a local-match requirement. - Resolution 25-3-2782 (approval of participation in the 2025 Dane Suburban Seat Belt Task Force grant): motion approved (clerk recorded an "Aye" from Alder Scruggs during the roll call; full roll-call details not specified in the transcript). Staff said this grant award was cut in half for 2025 and enforcement is expected to run March–August. - Resolution 25-3-2702 (approval of participation in the 2025 Speed Grant Task Force program — cited in the packet with a similar resolution number pattern): motion approved (roll call recorded: Alder DePula — Aye; Mayor O'Connor — Aye; full roll-call details not specified in the transcript). Staff said the enforcement window for that grant is April–August and that schedules will be set to be most impactful given available funds.

Committee direction and next steps: staff will proceed with the Bridal Engineering final design work and return with procurement or construction details as required. For the grants, staff and police leadership will implement enforcement activities within the reduced award amounts and return to the committee if they recommend a local funding supplement.

Ending: The committee approved the items and moved on to a separate review of year-end financials later in the meeting.