Council approves resolution to seek Bureau of Reclamation grant for new culinary well and authorizes drilling contract

The City Council approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for a Bureau of Reclamation grant of approximately $400,000 to support testing, design and engineering for a new culinary well. Staff said the grant money would be used primarily for test-well drilling and engineering to finalize the well design and assure regulatory compliance.

City staff explained the federal grant had been held up during administrative turnover but recently cleared and that one of the grant application requirements is a council resolution authorizing the application. Staff also said the grant includes environmental and permitting obligations, and city engineers have worked to ensure the proposed scope qualifies under the program. Council adopted the resolution with unanimous consent.

Separately, staff reviewed recent bids for a test-well drilling contract and asked council to issue a notice to proceed and authorize a drilling contract award. Staff explained there are multiple drilling methods: a mud-rotary method that permits continuous downhole sampling, and an air-rotary method that advances casing as drilling proceeds. The city’s consultant recommended the air-rotary approach for the upcoming test because of local geology and cost efficiency. The low bid, High Plains Drilling, was substantially lower than staff’s earlier estimate; staff recommended issuing a notice to proceed and executing the standard construction contract and the council approved that action as well.

Staff noted the city is pursuing complementary funding, including a low-interest loan application, to cover full well construction and later pipeline work. The well-drilling contract covers the test-drilling phase; construction and connection of a production well will be the subject of additional design and contracting when test results are available.