City Council Approves $3.5 Million Loan For Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements

By Gordon Hopkins The City of Fairbury will be executing a loan agreement for $3.5 million for funding from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) to pay for improvements to the city's wastewater treatment plant. The Fairbury City Council unanimously approved the first reading of Ordinance 3100, which authorizes the execution and delivery of the loan agreement, at a meeting the evening of Tuesday, September 7. The rule of the City Council normally requires three readings for such an ordinance, although the rule can be suspended and the three readings waived, should an ordinance need to be expedited. City Administrator Robert Messbarger said at the meeting, “There is no reason we need to expedite it. The staff didn't feel there's reason to do the three readings. This is a project that has already been approved. It was approved on March 15 2021.” However, Councilperson Phil Rogge made a motion for the first reading only, “I guess I'd like to see the three readings where we're borrowing three and a half million dollars. If anybody had any concerns that they want to address it.” The next two readings will happen at the following two City Council meetings. No property needs to be purchased by the city for this project. All work will be done inside the fencing of the existing property. The City Council voted to approve an engineering agreement with Olsson to design and bid the wastewater treatment plant improvements in March of this year. The last major upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant occurred in 1998. A water treatment system evaluation was completed in March of 2018 and several recommendations were made, including improvements to the headworks, buildings, piping, valves, a new clarifier ring and new grit processing.

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