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Votes at a glance: Gallatin City Council Committee approves water, sewer and personnel measures
Summary
At the June 10, 2025 Gallatin City Council Committee meeting, members approved bids and contracts for a raw water intake, a sewer extension, a flow meter replacement, wrote off utility bad debts and adopted a new pay plan and personnel-rule changes. Several items prompted brief council discussion but all motions carried.
Gallatin City Council Committee on June 10, 2025, approved a series of infrastructure and personnel items, including bids for a raw water intake, a sewer connection project, a flow meter replacement, a bad-debt write-off and changes to the city's pay plan and personnel rules.
Council members front-loaded approval of spending and personnel items during the meeting; each motion carried after brief discussion with no recorded opposition. The actions move capital work and human-resources changes forward following the budget process earlier this year.
The most expensive item approved was the raw water intake project. City staff told council the engineering estimate was a little over $20 million and that the low bid came in at $17,469,000. The project will add pumps and redundancy to increase intake capacity and provide piping and fittings to tie into a planned new treatment plant. The council moved the item forward on a motion by Councilman Fennell and a second by Councilman Carter; the motion carried.
Council also approved bids for a sewer extension at the end of Lot 4 Road intended to allow several existing properties to abandon septic systems and connect to municipal sewer. Staff said engineering was completed in 2022 and the city waited for Corps of Engineers permits before bidding. The project includes about 1,600 feet of gravity sewer and a small pump station. Several bids were received; a low-bid amount was stated in the record but was not clearly audible in the meeting transcript. The motion was made by Councilman Carter and seconded by Councilman Juvan and carried.
A separate project will relocate and replace an aging flow meter that records sewer flow the city receives from White House Utility District (Carrollton/Big Station Camp area). City staff said the existing meter is at the end of its life; the replacement will move the meter to a more suitable location and install a new unit. The item was advanced on a motion by Councilman Fennell, seconded by Councilman Carter, and carried.
On financial housekeeping, the committee approved writing off utility bad debts for fiscal 2025. Staff reported 423 accounts on the list totaling $86,926.37, a rise toward pre-COVID levels; the motion to approve carried.
Personnel measures approved included Resolution R2506-30, which updated pay charts to align payroll calculations with the budget and allowed job descriptions to be updated to new pay grades without separate council action; Resolution R2506-31, which implemented new or reclassified positions approved in the budget; and Resolution R2506-32, a personnel-rule change (Personnel Rule 4, section 4.3) that formalizes hiring up to step 5 of a pay grade at the department-head/HR director level and requires mayoral approval for hires above step 5. Council discussion on the pay-chart resolution included a request to verify whether EDA positions should remain on the city pay chart; staff agreed to check and report back. Motions on these items carried.
Other procedural votes and motions made at the meeting were recorded as carried; no opposed votes were announced on the public record during the committee session.
Votes at a glance (as recorded in meeting actions): - Ordinance (raw water intake bids): motion to send out (mover: Councilman Fennell; second: Councilman Carter) — motion carried. - Ordinance (Lot 4 Road sewer project): motion to send out (mover: Councilman Carter; second: Councilman Juvan) — motion carried. - Ordinance (flow meter relocation/replacement): motion to set off/advance (mover: Councilman Fennell; second: Councilman Carter) — motion carried. - Report (utility bad-debt write-offs): approve list (423 accounts; $86,926.37) — motion carried. - Resolution R2506-30 (pay-chart updates): approve — motion carried (staff to verify EDA charting). - Resolution R2506-31 (new/reclassified positions): approve — motion carried. - Resolution R2506-32 (personnel rule 4.3 — step/hiring authority): approve — motion carried.
The committee also received a department report on a 2025 occupancy-tax audit and a notice about an upcoming car show on the downtown square; those items were informational and not part of the recorded votes.
