Le Mars council approves wastewater pretreatment contract, sets sewer bond hearing

Le Mars— city council voted to award the Phase 2 wastewater industrial pretreatment project contract to Hoogen Doerna Construction after staff recommended selecting the second-lowest bidder based on contractor performance and the city—s best-interest standard.

City staff told the council that Hughendorn (listed in staff materials) is already building the city—s RO system and has performed "on time, on budget," with no issues, and that the $331,000 difference between the low and second-lowest bids is small relative to a roughly $31 million project. "We're not required in this instance to give it to the low," staff said, citing the "best interest of the city" under Iowa code without citing a monetary threshold.

Council members discussed whether the two industrial users have signed reimbursement agreements. Staff said the most current agreement versions were distributed the previous week but have not yet been executed. A council member warned that if those agreements were not finalized, industrial-user rates would be increased; staff said they "anticipate no issues" securing signatures.

Eric Scott, a representative of Sentry (a bidding contractor), told the council Sentry submitted the lowest bid and described the bid as "responsive and responsible," saying his company was "confident in our abilities to perform." Scott said his team was available to answer questions.

Speaker 2 moved to adopt resolutions ordering the contract to Hoogen Doerna Construction; a second was recorded and the motion carried on roll call. The transcript as read into the record includes a dollar figure that appears garbled; the audio/transcript shows "$3,030,499,000" in one instance but the numeric sequence is inconsistent elsewhere in the record. City staff materials and the council packet should be consulted for the official contract amount and award documents.

On financing, staff briefed the council on a not-to-exceed financing structure prepared with DA Davidson, Dorsey & Whitney, and Bolton & Menk, noting the bonds will be taxable and will include contingencies to reflect market conditions. The council adopted a resolution to set a public hearing for Dec. 2, 2025, at noon, on a proposal to enter into a sewer revenue loan agreement and borrow money under it. Staff said the project will be funded with a sewer revenue bond and that the city will be reimbursed by industrial users for bond repayment.

The council recorded no changes to project scope during the meeting and directed that a public hearing be held on the proposed bond financing.

Next steps: the city will finalize contract documents with Hoogen Doerna Construction and proceed with the scheduled public hearing on Dec. 2, 2025, for the sewer revenue loan agreement.