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Council approves engineering for 2027 lead service application; city reports successful ozone pilot and $5M in PFA funding
Summary
The council approved engineering services to submit a 2027 lead service line replacement application and heard that a water‑treatment ozone pilot reduced iron and manganese; the city also reported roughly $5 million in combined PFA funding for water projects and will present cost estimates for treatment plant options at a future meeting.
City engineer Jared Griffith told the Foley City Council on Feb. 10 that staff will submit a 2027 PPL application to the Minnesota Department of Health and the PFA seeking funding to replace about 23 lead service lines and that the council should approve an engineering agreement to prepare that application. The council approved the engineering services agreement.
Griffith also updated the council on remaining reimbursable funds from a prior lead service project and said staff plan to use those funds to extend last year’s contractor work to complete an additional roughly 10–14 residences where feasible. He said the 2026 project plans are expected to come back to council for approval in March.
On water treatment, Griffith reported results from an ozone pilot study that showed reductions in iron and manganese and an improvement in water color as expected. He told council the city has been notified of approximately $5 million in PFA funding (combining an earlier $3 million award with a recent $2 million federal allocation) to support treatment plant work; staff will return with probable cost estimates for several plant scenarios (package/precast solutions and cast‑in‑place options, with and without ozone) to inform council decisions.
Jared cautioned that some funding programs and contract timelines remain uncertain and that staff will continue to track deadlines, but said using available PFA and reimbursement options could accelerate work on lead service replacements and treatment upgrades.
Next steps: staff will submit the 2027 PPL application, bring 2026 project plans to the March meeting for approval, and present treatment plant cost estimates and phasing options at a future council meeting.
