Manti council awards water-plant contract, adopts annexation plan and new subdivision rules

Manti’s City Council voted July 15 to award the construction contract for a new water treatment plant to Nelson Brothers and approved several planning and administrative items in a meeting that ran through budget, infrastructure and community reports.

Sunrise Engineering told the council that seven bids were opened July 9 and that two of the lowest bids failed to meet prequalification requirements. Sunrise said Nelson Brothers was the lowest qualified bidder and reported a Nelson Brothers bid of approximately $3,700,000. Council member Brian Francois moved to accept the Nelson Brothers bid; the motion was seconded by Mary Pipes and carried on a voice vote with all members present voting “aye.” The chair announced the award to Nelson Brothers.

The council also approved several other motions during the meeting. By voice vote the council:
- Approved the minutes from July 1, 2026 (motion made and seconded; unanimous “aye”).
- Approved payment of the bills (routine motion; unanimous “aye”).
- Adopted a five-year municipal advisory agreement with Cruz and Associates (recommended by staff) and authorized the city manager to proceed.
- Adopted an annexation policy plan after months of review and discussion.
- Adopted a revised subdivision ordinance intended to simplify minor lot splits and better reflect current development practice.

Votes and movers recorded in the meeting minutes: the Nelson Brothers award motion was recorded as moved by Brian Francois and seconded by Mary Pipes; the annexation policy plan motion was moved by Mary Pipes and seconded by Brian Francois; the subdivision ordinance motion was moved by Megan Johnson and seconded by Jen Christiansen. The chair called each question and recorded unanimous voice approval on the motions as presented.

Why it matters: awarding the treatment-plant contract advances a major capital project that staff said is within the city’s budget for the work and will require subsequent coordination on construction scheduling and local subcontracting. Adopting the annexation policy and subdivision ordinance updates sets the regulatory framework for future development and clarifies procedures for lot splits and minor subdivisions.

Next steps: staff will administer the water treatment contract and return with any required construction agreements and schedule updates. The municipal advisory agreement will be put into effect and staff will proceed with implementing the adopted annexation and subdivision rules. The council adjourned after routine closing motions.

Votes at a glance:
- Minutes (07/01/2026): approved (mover/seconder recorded; unanimous)
- Payment of bills: approved (unanimous)
- Municipal advisory agreement (Cruz and Associates): approved (unanimous)
- Water treatment plant contract (award to Nelson Brothers, recommended by Sunrise Engineering): approved (mover: Brian Francois; seconder: Mary Pipes; unanimous)
- Annexation policy plan: approved (mover: Mary Pipes; seconder: Brian Francois; unanimous)
- Subdivision ordinance: approved (mover: Megan Johnson; seconder: Jen Christiansen; unanimous)

All quoted or attributed remarks in this report come from the city meeting transcript or the staff presentation; where the transcript contained inconsistent numeric transcription for a construction amount, this story cites the clearer, consistently stated figure from the presentation (Nelson Brothers’ bid described as roughly $3.7 million) and notes that staff described the amount as within the project budget.