Council authorizes $11 million wastewater contract renewal and adopts financial policies

At the April 14 meeting the Chattanooga City Council authorized renewal of an on-call blanket contract for sanitary sewer evaluation and rehabilitation (contract W22022201) as part of year 4 of the consent-decree work. The clerk read that the annual amount for the renewal with SAC Construction LLC and Inliner Solutions was $11,000,000 and council voted to approve the renewal.

Council also adopted a package of budget policies intended to strengthen fiscal stability. The policies adopted include a volatile revenue policy, a general fund balance stabilization policy, a structurally balanced budget policy, and a one-time revenue policy; council members thanked the Budget Chair and staff for their work to revise the policies and recommended targets (the chair noted a general fund balance target revised to 22–30 percent).

In procurement, the council approved five purchases presented by procurement staff: a one-time purchase of a 41-foot aerial bucket truck ($144,000); a year-four renewal for SPATCO Energy Solutions (manufacturer labor increase request of 2.7%, no increase to annual amount limit); a one-year extension for Head Start food services with Bimbo Bakeries; a one-time purchase of five mobile trailer cameras ($237,528.45); and office furniture for the police department ($54,587.35). All purchases were approved on voice vote.

Council also approved multiple park rental fee waivers and deposits for events including Riverfront Nights and Friends of the Festival (the clerk read schedules and deposit/waiver amounts as listed on the agenda; some agenda numbers in the transcript were garbled and are noted as "not specified" where the reading was unclear).