Council Approves The Hiring Of New City Manager
Wastewater Treatment Plant Cost Balloons
May 4th, 2022
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa City Council met on Monday, May 2nd, 2022, at 6 pm inside the council chambers at Oskaloosa City Hall.
After approving the consent agenda, which included selling city-owned properties at 901 E Ave West and 209 North 8th Street.
The Council heard from FOX Strand regarding the wastewater facility plan as the work continues towards a final design.
Selection of combined facility alternative or separate facility alternative
Preferred alternative: Combined facility alternative
If combined facility alternative, which site should be used: northeast plant or southwest facility
Preferred alternative : Northeast wastewater treatment facility
Selection of the treatment technology to be used at the new facility
Preferred alternative : Oxidation ditch treatment technology
Determining the planned industrial growth to be included in the design for the certified site
Preferred alternative : 50-acre planned growth at the certified site using flows/loads for typical light industry
Staff recommends that the City Council continue any desired discussion of the design alternatives and approve the resolution to give direction to FOX Strand on which design to work towards for the final facility plan.
A 322-page document outlined the planned update and long-term improvement of the wastewater facility for Oskaloosa.
Previous plans centered around a combined wastewater treatment facility on the southwest side, but concerns about a future interchange have cast doubt on that plan.
The estimated cost of 64.8 million is now forecast for the combined plant oxidation ditch at the southwest site was presented.
The cost for the project has ballooned by nearly 100% since initial conversations in March of 2017 when the estimated cost of the wastewater project was 30.23 million dollars.
Oskaloosa will have a new city manager in June after the City Council unanimously appointed Amal Eltahir as City Manager for the city of Oskaloosa.
Eltahir will begin her work with Oskaloosa on June 13, 2022.
