Galena council votes to pursue termination negotiations with US Water contractor

The Galena City Council on May 26 authorized staff to enter negotiations to terminate the city’s operations-and-maintenance agreement with US Water Corporation.

The motion to pursue termination negotiations was made during discussion of item 26C-0228 and passed by roll call. Council members who spoke said the city has experienced water-related issues over the last two years and would prefer bringing operations in-house where feasible.

“One of the reasons I brought this up almost two years ago is that I would love to bring this in-house,” said the council member who initiated the motion, citing local capacity and examples from neighboring cities. Another councilor said the city should pursue termination rather than reopening price negotiations if US Water is not willing to change terms.

The vote followed a short exchange about process; the motion carried in roll call with council members responding in the affirmative on the record. No amendments or alternative motions were offered at the meeting.

The council did not adopt a final contract termination at the session; the approved action directs staff to begin negotiations that could lead to termination. The agenda item recorded the contract as the City’s operations-and-maintenance agreement with US Water Corporation (item 26C-0228). The council did not provide a timeline or dollar estimate for the termination process; those details were not specified and were not resolved in the meeting.

The item will return to council when negotiations produce a recommendation or a final action to approve termination or a renegotiated agreement.