An amended Owner-Engineer Agreement was presented at Monday night’s North Judson Town Council meeting.
CommonWealth Engineers Vice President of Business Development Vince Sommers gave members a few updates over the town’s Water Treatment Plant and Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO) Improvement projects. He also submitted an amended owner-engineer agreement for their consideration.
He explained that the agreement would need to be submitted to a third party before it can be finalized. He said two parties, the Town of North Judson and CommonWealth Engineers execute the agreement and then it goes to Rural Development who will review it. They will either approve the document or submit any questions they may have.
Members voted unanimously to approve the amended agreement and to grant signatory authority to Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe and Town Council President Wendy Hoppe. The signatory authority allows Clerk-Treasurer Rowe and President Hoppe to sign off on the necessary documentation.
Sommers also reminded members that the projects will be tackled concurrently. He said this will save the town money in the long run, as the same project manager, contractor, inspection services, soil boring crews and other resources can potentially be utilized on both projects.
Before ending his presentation, he mentioned that on Thursday morning, Clerk-Treasurer Rowe should receive a notification stating whether the North Judson Town Council has been awarded the $550,000 OCRA grant they applied for in February.
Sommers said he is optimistic about the town’s chances since the site visit went well and Town Manager Marshall Horstmann did a good job preparing the proposals to support local need.
If the town is the grant recipient, the financing for the projects will be in place. If they do not receive the grant funds, some adjustments will need to be made to the project plan. Sommers said they will also have to immediately apply for another grant during the next round, which may not be for another 6 months.
Members are anticipated to discuss the next steps for the projects when they meet again later this month.
