Votes at a glance: Budget amendment, housing authority plan, easement vacation, multiple contracts and ordinances approved

Key actions the Waterloo City Council approved at its Feb. 3 meeting (summary of motions, outcomes and key details):

1) Fiscal-year 2025 budget amendment: Council opened and closed the hearing and adopted a resolution approving the fiscal-year 2025 budget amendment by roll-call vote. (Motion adopted; roll call recorded unanimous yes.)

2) Five-year capital funds action plan (Housing Authority, FY2024–2028): Council received and filed notice and then adopted a resolution approving the Housing Authority Board’s proposed five-year capital funding recommendations for maintenance and improvement of Ridgeway Towers. (Motion adopted; roll call recorded unanimous yes.)

3) Sunnyside Creek improvements (contract number 1062): Council opened and closed the public hearing, confirmed plan specifications and authorized the project to proceed. Staff read bids; the engineer’s estimate and multiple bids were presented and the council moved to proceed. (Motion adopted; roll call recorded unanimous yes.)

4) Easement vacation at Woodland Knowles addition (227 S. Hackett Road): Council received and filed the notice, conducted hearings and passed an ordinance to vacate two 8-foot public-utility easements for the referenced lots. The council suspended the rules and passed the ordinance on second and third readings during the same meeting. (Ordinance approved on second/third reading; roll-call unanimous yes.)

5) Demolition and site-clearance contracts: Council authorized plans and awarded a set of demolition contracts and site-clearance services. Awards included portions of contract D2025-01-03P (parts awarded to D.W. Zinsser Company Inc. and Lehman Trucking) and contract D2025-01-05P (Lehman Trucking). Council also authorized additional demolition parts and Rackham/asbestos handling as needed. (Resolutions adopted; roll-call unanimous yes on each award.)

6) Demolition RFP awards for WDC properties: The council adopted resolutions to confirm bids and award partial contracts for WDC-owned properties; staff clarified WDC will pay for those demolitions. (Resolutions adopted; roll-call unanimous yes.)

7) Professional-services agreements and licenses: Council approved several professional-services agreements and a licensing agreement including AECOM Technical Services ($97,600; airport airfield pavement maintenance management system project), Anderson Bogart ($17,760; traffic signal post standardization), a licensing agreement with Iowa Northern Railway ($1,500) for LaPorte Road improvements, and the fiber project agreement (see separate article). (Resolutions adopted; roll-call unanimous yes for the items recorded.)

8) Demolition observation and air-quality monitoring at St. Mary’s: Council approved a professional-services agreement with Terracon Consultants Inc. for monitoring; the contract is on an hourly fee schedule (staff estimated it may total about $20,000). (Resolution adopted; roll-call unanimous yes.)

Vote pattern and procedure: For each listed motion the clerk recorded roll-call votes, and members present voted in favor. Where public hearings were required, the council opened and closed the hearings before adopting resolutions or ordinances. Some items were read as consent or bundled with multiple small professional services approvals; council members asked questions before roll-call in some cases.

Ending note: Several items approved were contingent on contractor performance and environmental oversight (notably asbestos handling). Council asked staff to monitor contract expenditures and return with renegotiations if schedule changes or additional crews alter projected costs for the fiber project.