The Superior Common Council on Dec. 16 adopted an ordinance creating a lead service-line replacement division in the city code and approved an engineering services contract for the 2026 lead service-line replacement project.

Mayor Payne and committee chairs described the ordinance as a technical, procedural update. The public works committee chair said the ordinance will allow the city and utility to enter private properties to identify and replace lead lines at no cost to homeowners; the chair added, “the overwhelming consensus there was that the community members wanted those streets to stay the same,” when summarizing earlier committee discussion on a separate streets proposal.

Council approved the LHB engineering contract in the amount of $1,038,885; the motion was made by Councilor Anderson and seconded by Councilor Moffitt and adopted by voice vote.

In other business the council adopted a package of routine contracts and agreements, including a $25,400 contract with Crystal Clear Ice Sculptures LLC for the Lake Superior Ice Festival; a 2026 contract extension with Liberty Tree/Tire Services LLC for tire recycling at $355 per ton; a landfill consultant contract with Short Elliott Hendrickson not to exceed $70,000; and a request from Vision Incorporated to purchase up to 1.51 compensatory wetland credits from the city’s mitigation bank. The council also approved a renewal of a joint powers agreement with the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) for household hazardous waste services (estimated $30,000 per year) and a cooperative construction and maintenance agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for ongoing maintenance of the multiuse path on the Blotnik Bridal following reconstruction.

Councilors approved licensing and personnel items: original class A beer and class C liquor (wine-only) license and a retail tobacco/vaping license for WIC Store Incorporated at 311 Belknap Street (both pending police, health and fire approvals), election inspector nominations and roster for the 2026–27 cycle, and confirmation of Wesley Van as Environmental Services Division operations and maintenance supervisor.

On the budgets, finance staff presented brief overviews of the 2026 stormwater and wastewater enterprise fund budgets, describing them as healthy through 2026 but noting projected deficits in the 2030s if revenue sources do not change. “These are healthy, stable funds for 2026,” Mayor Payne said. The council adopted both budgets by voice vote and without proposed fee increases.

A posthumous 2025 CSWEA (Wisconsin Section Collection Systems) award to Aaron Abrahamson was formally accepted and placed on the public record.

The council conducted these items primarily by motion and voice vote with little extended debate and concluded that portion of the agenda before moving to the ERP/HRIS items later in the meeting.