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Council approves wastewater pretreatment contract, sets Dec. 2 public hearing on financing
Summary
The council awarded the wastewater pretreatment construction contract to the firm identified in the record as Hughendorn/Hoogen Doerna and set a Dec. 2, 2025 public hearing on a Sewer Revenue Loan Agreement to finance phase 2 of the pretreatment facility. Council cited contractor performance and industrial-user agreements in choosing the contractor.
The council voted to award the wastewater industrial pretreatment construction contract to the firm identified in the meeting record as Hughendorn (also transcribed elsewhere as Hoogen Doerna). Speaker 1 told the council the recommendation was to "not award to the lowest in this instance and award to the second low, which is Hughendorn," noting the company is currently building the city's reverse-osmosis system and "that project currently is on time, on budget, and we have had absolutely no issues with them as a contractor on that project."
Council members and staff repeatedly emphasized that Iowa Code permits awarding on the basis of the "best interest of the city" rather than strictly to the lowest bidder. One speaker framed the financial trade-off as a $331,000 difference on about a $31,000,000 project and said that the additional amount would not be paid by taxpayers "provided those agreements get signed."
After discussion the council moved and seconded a resolution to award the contract (resolution number and contract amount were read into the record; the transcript contains inconsistently formatted numeric strings). Roll call was taken and the motion carried.
Separately, staff briefed the council on financing for Phase 2 of the wastewater pretreatment facility and recommended setting a public hearing to consider a Sewer Revenue Loan Agreement and related borrowing. The council voted to set a public hearing for Dec. 2, 2025, at 12 p.m., to consider entering into the Sewer Revenue Loan Agreement and borrowing for the project. Staff said the project will be funded with a sewer revenue bond and the city will be reimbursed by industrial users for repayment of the bond.
What happens next: the council will hold the public hearing on Dec. 2, 2025; staff indicated current versions of industrial-user agreements have been distributed to the two industrial users but were not signed at the time of the meeting. If agreements are not executed, staff and council discussed a contingency that industrial-user rates would be adjusted to reflect the debt.
