Council hears request to hire water-plant operator early and reviews design change-order

Public Works staff said the city is expanding its water-treatment plant and that state requirements will call for an additional certified operator once the expanded plant comes online. "When we expand or over double our water treatment capacity, the Department of Health will require that we have an an additional operator at the water treatment plant," staff said. To meet that need, staff asked to begin recruitment now and bring an operator in as an operator-in-training so they can complete training hours before 2027.

Councilmember Tim Abrahamson asked whether salaries for the new position would come from the general fund. Staff clarified that utility positions are paid from their respective enterprise funds and not from the general fund: "Utility salaries don't. They come out of the fund that it belongs to." Staff said the position was already planned in the 2027–2028 budget and that bringing the hire forward would not affect the general-fund decisions discussed at the prior budget meeting.

Staff also presented change order No.2 to the water-treatment expansion design after geotechnical work identified liquefiable soils at the planned site. Staff said consultants helped contain cost overruns and that, even after change orders and prior allocations, design fees remain below the typical 12% of construction cost — staff reported they are still under 10% relative to the estimated construction cost.

No formal hiring or contract approvals were recorded during the workshop; staff presented the requests and responded to council questions about timing, training and funding.