Council awards $1.30 million Mount Grove Street contract, approves Lake Comas engineering amendment and cemetery funding restriction

The City Council voted to award a $1,296,576 contract for the Mount Grove Street utility project and approved a 5% contingency for potential scope changes, approved an amendment to the engineering agreement for the Lake Comas dam reconstruction, and adopted a resolution restricting cemetery funds to Spring Grove Cemetery.

The motions came during the council’s consideration of items forwarded from the finance and general operations committees. Councilmembers approved the Mount Grove Street contract by roll call after a motion to award the contract to the bidder read into the record (transcript read the bidder as “Wilkown Escading out of Union Road, Wisconsin”). The council also approved an amendment to the engineering agreement for the Lake Comas dam and related work and approved the monthly warrant.

Why it matters: the Mount Grove contract is the largest single procurement on the night’s agenda and includes a contingency to cover unanticipated changes during construction; the engineering amendment increases the city’s committed design/inspection support for the Lake Comas dam reconstruction. The cemetery resolution narrows the use of a municipal fund to a single cemetery, which affects how the city may allocate those revenues going forward.

Mount Grove Street contract award: The council moved to award the 2025 Mount Grove Street utility improvements contract in an amount not to exceed $1,296,576 and to approve a 5% contingency for scope changes. The motion passed on roll call; members recorded as voting “yes” in the roll call included Alderman Square, Alderman Armstrong Garcia, Alderman Centimeters, Alderman Wilson and Alderman Peterson (as read in the meeting roll call). The meeting transcript reads the bidder’s name in the motion as “Wilkown Escading out of Union Road, Wisconsin”; the official contract award record should be checked for the formal bidder name and contract documents.

Lake Comas engineering amendment: The council approved Amendment No. 5 to the city’s engineering agreement for the Lake Comas dam reconstruction to provide additional inspection services and engineering assistance. The amendment was described in the motion as an added amount “not to exceed” a dollar figure read into the record (transcript wording of the amount was unclear in the public audio). The motion passed on roll call with affirmative votes recorded in the meeting record.

Other formal actions and ordinances: Councilmembers approved the warrant (Warrant 2025-01), authorized a temporary retailer’s license for St. Andrews congregation’s trivia night to be held at 115 South Seventh Street on March 14, 2025, and adopted ordinance revisions amending municipal code section 2-4-19 related to the tourism commission. The tourism code change was described as removing or clarifying the requirement that a member of the Delavan Development Corporation hold a seat on the tourism commission, an adjustment intended to address a longstanding vacancy and quorum problems. The council also approved an amendment to municipal code section 10-1-29 that revises street parking restrictions for vehicles over specified lengths.

Cemetery funds resolution: The council passed a resolution requiring that cemetery funds be used only for Spring Grove Cemetery. The motion carried unanimously as recorded in the meeting vote.

Appointments and closed session: The mayor said no appointment would be made that evening to the tourism commission and the council voted to go into closed session to deliberate the possible purchase of property subject to foreclosure, citing the statutory exception for deliberating or negotiating the purchase of public property when competitive or bargaining reasons require confidentiality.

Votes at a glance: - Award Mount Grove Street utility contract (amount: $1,296,576; 5% contingency): motion moved and seconded; roll-call approval recorded (yes votes read in transcript: Alderman Square, Alderman Armstrong Garcia, Alderman Centimeters, Alderman Wilson, Alderman Peterson). Outcome: approved. - Approve Amendment No. 5 to engineering agreement for Lake Comas dam reconstruction (added amount: not fully clear in audio/transcript): motion moved and seconded; roll-call approval recorded. Outcome: approved. - Approve warrant 2025-01 (warrant approval): motion moved and seconded; voice vote recorded. Outcome: approved. - Temporary retailer’s license for St. Andrews congregation trivia night at 115 South Seventh Street, 03/14/2025: motion moved and seconded; voice vote recorded. Outcome: approved. - Ordinance revision to municipal code 2-4-19 (tourism commission composition): motion moved and seconded; voice vote recorded. Outcome: approved. - Amendment to municipal code 10-1-29 (street parking restrictions for long vehicles): motion moved and seconded; voice vote recorded. Outcome: approved. - Resolution restricting cemetery funds to Spring Grove Cemetery: motion moved and seconded; voice vote recorded. Outcome: approved. - Motion to go into closed session under the applicable statutory exception for negotiating purchases of public property: motion moved and seconded; roll-call approval recorded. Outcome: approved; council recessed to closed session.

Meeting context and next steps: Council members noted follow-up steps for contract execution and for finalizing engineering amendment amounts; the mayor said the tourism commission appointment would be deferred to a future meeting to allow more time to solicit candidates. The official contract documents, full engineering amendment text, and ordinance language will be the final authoritative records of these actions.