Andover Council approves wastewater power upgrades, PUD amendments, bond assessments and contracts

Andover — The Andover City Council on June 11, 2025 approved a set of infrastructure, zoning and contracting measures, including authorization for a redundant electrical feed and upgraded transformers at the wastewater treatment plant, ordinances amending three planned unit developments, a special-assessment ordinance tied to multiple subdivision improvements, and a lowest-qualified-bid award of $448,784.20 for arterial crack repairs.

Why it matters: The measures affect near-term construction and maintenance work across several Andover neighborhoods, change allowable uses and parcel lines in three PUDs, and shift costs to property owners and outside utilities in some cases. The wastewater power decision and related engineering contracts carry the largest immediate fiscal and schedule implications.

Wastewater plant: redundant feed and new transformers

The council authorized installing a redundant electrical feed and upgraded transformers at the wastewater treatment plant and approved a related cost estimate of $442,276. City staff told the council the upgrades are intended to provide a backup feed so the plant can continue operating if a primary feed fails; the project will add two pad-mounted transformers sized to carry the plant load and a separate feed from Butler Rural Electric Co-op.

Council discussion focused on costs, ownership and alternative options. Staff said an on-site generator had been estimated at roughly $1.2 million in an engineering study and that Butler Rural Electric could provide a second utility feed without the same upfront capital cost to the city. Doug Veach of Butler Rural Electric Co-op said line-extension and equipment costs are billed to the party requesting the extension and that the co-op owns and maintains the equipment afterward: "That is covering the cost only. There's no markup on that…