Melbourne council awards $2.377 million lagoon contract to Boomerang Corporation

The Melbourne City Council voted unanimously May 11 to award a $2,377,000 contract to Boomerang Corporation of Anamosa, Iowa, for rehabilitation of the city's sanitary sewer lagoon following a public hearing and an engineering recommendation.

Veenstra & Kimm engineer Ben Klaus presented the bid tabulation and told the council V&K will act as the city’s advocate, perform regular inspections and that the project includes a two-year warranty. "We are the advocate of the City, and would be doing inspections on a regular basis," Klaus said.

Council member Beth Opperman moved to accept Veenstra & Kimm’s recommendation to award the project to Boomerang Corporation; Council member Josh Fuller seconded the motion. A roll-call vote was unanimous in favor (Gary Fricke, Beth Opperman, Josh Fuller, Lucas Hauser, Beth Smith).

Clerk Mary Pothast said the award and next steps must satisfy the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ environmental review process; to accommodate that requirement and staff schedules the council set a public hearing on the Environmental Review Process for June 22, 2026, at 7 p.m. in the Melbourne Library basement.

The contract award moves the project into engineering oversight and permitting phases; the council did not authorize construction work beyond accepting the low bid and awarding the contract. Council materials list the low bid amount and the two-year warranty; financing and timelines for construction were not specified at the meeting.

The council will consider any outstanding environmental-review requirements and permitting items at the June 22 meeting before construction begins.