The Winnebago City Council decided not to approve a pay estimate for Ulland Brothers at their meeting on Tuesday, June 9, citing the continued delays in finishing their work on the Cleveland Avenue West Street & Utility Improvement project.

City engineer Matt Cole presented the council with Pay Estimate 16 for Ulland Brothers, along with an update on the work still to be done on the Cleveland Avenue West Street & Utility Improvement project.

“There are still a few areas that need to be touched up before the project is fully complete,” Cole reported. “There’s a series of potholes that need to be redone, and one of the corners on a road where the trucks were hauling materials needs to be fixed as well. I’ve got Pay Estimate 16 here for council approval, if you wish to do so.”

Council member Chris Anderson noted that he would rather not approve the pay estimate, as he felt that Ulland Brothers had been unnecessarily delaying the project past its intended completion date.

“I don’t think we should approve any more pay estimates until the project work is all completed,” Anderson shared. “They keep dragging this process out month after month.”

“I agree with Chris; Ulland Brothers has had plenty of time to complete their work on this project,” council member Paul Eisenmenger added. “I haven’t seen any visible results from their work since the bulk of the construction was completed.”

While no formal action was taken on the issue at this time, the council decided not to approve Pay Estimate 16.

The council also approved a resolution to get funding for the installation of a dual auger bar screen for the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

City administrator Judi Hynes presented the council with Resolution 908-2026 for a General Obligation sewer bond 2026A.

“We applied for this micro-loan to help pay for the installation of a dual auger bar screen at the Wastewater Treatment Plant,” Hynes explained. “The bond is for $159,000, which should cover all of the installation expenses, as well as any other issues we might discover in the process. We are still making payments on our 2011 sewer bond, the final installment of which will be paid in 2031, so my intention is to get this bond paid off early if possible so that we do not have to pay as much interest on it.”

Hearing no discussion on the issue, a motion was made and seconded to approve Resolution 908-2026 approving the General Obligation sewer bond 2026A. The motion passed unanimously.

Hynes then presented the council with a Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA) Credit Enhancement Program agreement.

“This document goes with the resolution we just passed,” Hynes noted. “What this says is that if we end up defaulting on the loan before the due date, PFA will help pay off the rest of it. Since we have already approved the resolution, we also need to approve this as well.”

Hearing no further discussion, a motion was made and seconded to approve the PFA Credit Enhancement Program agreement. The motion passed unanimously.

Other business discussed at the City Council meeting included:

• State Representative Bjorn Olson gave a special presentation to the council, discussing what had been passed by state legislature in their last session, as well as what types of projects have been receiving federal funding within the last year.

• Resolution 907-2026 declaring a 2010 Ford ambulance excess property was unanimously approved.

• The resignation of Kaitlyn Stauffer from the Winnebago Ambulance Department was unanimously approved.

• The purchase of a backup raz pump for the Wastewater Treatment Plant from Midwest Pump Works in the amount of $9,212 was approved unanimously.

• The purchase of two new radios for the Winnebago Police Department from Motorola Solutions in the amount of $10,560.80 was unanimously approved.

• Step-pay increases for Gain Barnett and Clint Eastman were both approved. Barnett received a raise to Step 4 on the Union pay scale, effective June 3, while Eastman was bumped up to Step 5 on the Union pay scale, effective June 1.

• The purchase of six bags of rubber mulch for use on the Winnebago playgrounds from Webber Recreational Design in the amount of $3,281 was approved unanimously.