The McMinnville Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to accept a bid from W and O Construction for a water-treatment-plant upgrade totaling $15,626,000, despite questions from board members about billing classifications and the project’s final cost.

The item, presented as Resolution 2024-51, prompted extended discussion. A board member asked staff for a count of residential, commercial and multifamily meters and raised concern that multifamily accounts were being billed as commercial. "Anything that's multifamily is commercial no matter what," said one speaker during the discussion; staff replied an audit is underway to identify meters that need to be reclassified. Speaker 8 said the comptroller's office restricts charging different rates for multifamily versus residential where meters are the same size, and recommended a comprehensive rate analysis be done as part of a broader rate study.

Staff also described efforts to lower the overall project cost through additional funding sources. One staff member said that, with contingencies and potential State Revolving Fund (SRF) assistance and negotiation with W and O Construction, the owner-side cost might be reduced to about $12,130,000 from the bid amount. Board members said they wanted to avoid multi-family customers on low incomes being disproportionately affected by future rate changes.

After the discussion, the board moved the resolution, took the vote and the motion passed. The board did not record a detailed roll-call tally in the transcript for this item; the motion was announced as passing.

Next steps: staff will complete the meter audit, finalize SRF funding applications and proceed with contract finalization and procurement steps under the direction of the city administrator and water/sewer department.