Washington City Council approves two service agreements

WASHINGTON - The Washington City Council approved an ordinance to rezone a 1.5-acre lot at the corner of 8th Avenue and 11th street during its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 17.

The rezoning is being done with the intent of constructing a hospice home on the site. This was the third and final reading of the ordinance for the council.

Another item up for approval was a service agreement for audit services for the city. The city put out a request for proposal and it received replies from four firms: Anderson, Larkin & Co., P.C (Ottumwa), Auditor of State (Iowa City office), BerganKDV (Urbandale office), and Gronewold, Bell, Kyhnn & Co., P. C. (Atlantic).

Finance Director Kelsey Brown reviewed and scored each proposal and came away with a recommendation for Anerson, Larkin & Co., P.C.

“Anderson has been on our radar a couple different times with RFPs, but they never came in at a good price range,” Brown said. “I feel pretty confident stepping away from our current auditors due to their timing issues. I would recommend Anderson and Larkin and then they also work with similar sized cities to ours in the area.”

The council approved the proposal for audit services from Anderson, Larkin & Co., P.C. with the price of their services being $63,000, and will be in place for three years.

A service agreement for engineering services from Bolton & Menk was also up for council approval. Back in November, a request for proposal (RFP) was issued seeking firms to provide general engineering services to the city.

A review committee of Mayor Millie Youngquist, Council members Illa Earnest and Susan Carroll, Tim Kleese, Brendan Delong, and City Administrator Joe Gaa conducted virtual interviews with the most responsive firms. After their research, the committee recommended Bolton & Menk.

“I had an initial Zoom meeting with the group that we'll be working mostly with this morning, and I'm really impressed with the questions they asked,” Gaa said of Bolton & Menk. “They asked me more things in 30 minutes this morning than I've been asked by our previous engineer in a year and a half. I think this is a good move, and we recommend approval.”

The Council approved the proposal for general engineering services from Botlon & Menk with the agreement lasting two years.

A site plan for Bean’s Pharmacy at 304 E. Washington Street was also approved by the council. A new building will be constructed as a new location for Bean’s Pharmacy. A former drive-in bank will be removed at 220 E. Washington and that lot will be used for employee parking.

A motion to approve a quote for the replacement of the SBR Bowler #1 VFD for the Wastewater Treatment Plant was also approved. The quote was for $17,380 from Electric Pump with the other option being from Jet Co. Inc at $23,466.12.

“We worked with Jet Co. in the past on these,” Gaa said. “Jason [Whisler] (WasterWater Treatment Plant Superintendent) had gone out and got a couple of quotes, found one that was a little bit less from Electric Pump. He spent a lot of time reviewing them, believes that they're the same thing, very compatible with our operation. So, we're willing to recommend the low quote from Electric Pump.”

Electric Pump will perform the removal of the existing drive, installation of the new ATV630 VFD, startup assistance, and functional testing to ensure proper operation with the existing motor and control system.