Joint Meeting Moves Sharing Agreement Forward

The Oskaloosa City Council and Oskaloosa Water Department met in joint session on Thursday to further define a 28E agreement that will have the water department managing the sewer system for Oskaloosa.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa City Council and Oskaloosa Water Board of Trustees met in joint session on Thursday to discuss a 28E agreement between the entities.

The proposal will better outline the responsibility of each entity, defining how funding and labor and management will be handled.

“This has been a long journey,” Oskaloosa City Manager Michael Schrock said in regards to the sharing agreement.

The Water Board and the Oskaloosa City Council have each had representatives working in committee to help develop the 28E agreement. “The committee was formed as a result of Council’s decision not to pursue People Service,” explained Schrock.

The Oskaloosa City Council had been in discussions with People Service about running the Oskaloosa Waste Water facilities, instead of having the Oskaloosa Water Department take over those responsibilities. The City Council thought it better to keep operations a government responsibility versus the privatization of the facility.

The two entities have seemingly buried the hatchet after a legal battle erupted when Mayor Dave Krutzfeldt removed a water board trustee. The case was settled in district court, in July of 2014, in favor of the Mayor and the Oskaloosa City Council.

The committee worked to come up with a solution that required or encouraged the two entities to work together for the residents and rate-payers of Oskaloosa. That solution is to have the Oskaloosa Water Department manage the sewer system on behalf of the city.

The proposed agreement between the City of Oskaloosa and the Oskaloosa Water Department is a five year agreement with one year successive renewals. The agreement also contains a termination clause, which will require several steps before the two parties could end the agreement. “That was done deliberately,” said Schrock.

The staffing of the waste water and water departments, along with equipment sharing between the two entities, were points of discussion for the agreement. The hope is to help control costs for residents of Oskaloosa, while also protecting the employees.

After the meeting Thursday evening, the proposed agreement headed back for final changes. Meanwhile, the Oskaloosa Water Board and Oskaloosa City Council will be working to make the water board a five member board, up from its current three members. This measure will be in place to help lessen the responsibility load on the all-volunteer board members, and to help facilitate better communication among the members.

The potential final draft could be coming before the Oskaloosa City Council and Oskaloosa Water Board for approval in September, if both parties agree to the minor changes.