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Utility board approves series of water and wastewater contracts, grant amendment and equipment purchases
Summary
The city utility board unanimously approved SRF disbursements, a contractor bid for distribution reclosures, a grant-management amendment and a change order for filter-media replacement — all tied to ongoing wastewater and water-treatment projects, staff said.
The city utility board on June 1 unanimously approved a package of contracts, bid awards and grant amendments intended to advance multiple water and wastewater projects, officials said.
At the start of new business the board approved an SRF (sewage works State Revolving Fund) disbursement request number 79 (attachment 6A) after a brief procedural check about account masking. The board then approved a second SRF disbursement, request number 80, to consultant Hazen and Sawyer (attachment 6B), also without dissent.
The board approved a distribution reclosures bid (attachment 6C). Mike (staff member) explained that the chosen precloser devices — to be installed at three locations as nine individual units — allow transient faults to clear without a field crew, preventing many truck rolls. Mike said the selected bid was not the cheapest but offered higher sustained current and interrupting ratings, and that the purchase remains under the $50,000 budgeted for the year.
The board next approved the fourth-quarter 2025 uncollectible accounts write-off (attachment 6D), which staff reported totaled $30,275 and was lower than the comparable quarter the prior year. Staff noted the utility remains well under the state average for accounts over 90 days.
Members unanimously approved Amendment 2 to the Cornerstone Grants management contract (attachment 6E). Staff said Cornerstone has supported grant work for wastewater treatment, as well as lead service-line grant phases; the amendment covers work tied to the long-term control plan storage project and lead service-line phases.
A substantial discussion focused on the filter-media replacement change order (attachment 6F). Staff said the overall project is largely grant-funded (original grant about $948,900) and that the original contract was for approximately $776,100. During media removal crews discovered that underdrain troughs were made of aluminum rather than the expected steel, a condition that requires sandblasting and epoxy recoating rather than simple scraping and repainting. Jamon (staff member) said recoating is far less expensive than full replacement and that the project contingency and available capital would cover any additional costs; the board approved the change order unanimously.
The board and staff characterized the approvals as necessary to avoid delays in ongoing projects and to preserve the benefits of state and federal grant funding. Several staff members noted that much of the filter-media project is grant-funded so ratepayers have not borne the bulk of the expense so far.
The board asked staff to continue documenting technical findings (notably regarding lab testing methods discussed elsewhere on the agenda) and to report any material changes in scope or cost to the board before proceeding further.
