Preston council approves Keller Associates water-tank contract, requires indemnity revision

The Preston City Council on Jan. 27 approved a professional services agreement with Keller Associates to design and construct a two-million-gallon concrete water storage tank, provided the company and the city revise an indemnity and limitation-of-liability clause identified by the city attorney.

Colter Hollingshead of Keller Associates presented the scope of the agreement to the council. Councilmember Todd Thomas raised concerns about paragraph 8, the contractIndemnity and Limitation of Liability section, and asked that the language be reworded. Attorney Lyle Fuller told the council that the standard indemnity clause can be "problematic under the Idaho Constitution" for the city to adopt and said Keller Associates has an alternate indemnification clause that could be used.

Councilmember Terry Larson moved and Councilmember Todd Thomas seconded approval of the agreement on the condition that Preston City legal counsel and Keller Associates resolve the indemnity language. The motion passed unanimously. The minutes note a corrected agreement will be attached to the official record after the indemnity clause is updated.

Why it matters: a two-million-gallon concrete storage tank is a major infrastructure project for Preston's water system. Council members emphasized legal review of contract terms before final execution; specific project cost, timeline and funding sources were not specified in the meeting record.

Next steps: city legal staff will work with Keller Associates to revise the indemnity and limitation-of-liability clause before the contract is executed.