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Council questions emergency wastewater purchase and timeliness of required notifications
Summary
Council members raised concerns that an emergency purchase for sludge/incinerator cleaning was issued without timely notice to council and possibly without controller approval, prompting requests for record review and compliance checks with the city's emergency purchase ordinance.
Council members on Tuesday pressed the administration for details after learning of an emergency purchase order related to sewage sludge, incinerator cleaning and clinker removal at the wastewater treatment plant.
A council speaker summarized the sequence in committee: the facilities engineer contacted vendors on Feb. 4, a vendor (listed in documents as Brinks Works Environmental and in some paperwork as Burke's Works Environmental) submitted proposals on Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, and on Feb. 11 the city issued a purchase order. Council said they were not notified immediately and that required approvals by the controller were not evident in the packet.
Why it matters: The council said the ordinance requires prompt notification of emergency purchases and concurrence from specified officers. "I don't have any problem that it was something that needed to be taken care of ... but there was a matter of, you know, 7 or 8 days there that we could have dealt with it and we certainly should have been notified immediately," the council speaker said. The speaker estimated the immediate emergency purchase at about $40,000 and said larger repair costs are expected but not specified.
Staff response: City legal staff (Mr. Schroeder) was asked to review the procurement documentation; he indicated he could address legal terms but did not render a final legal opinion on the meeting floor. Council asked that the matter appear on the upcoming bills list for further review.
Outcome: No formal action was taken; council requested staff and legal follow‑up to verify compliance with the city's emergency purchase procedures and to determine whether approvals required by ordinance were obtained and recorded.
