The Utilities Committee is meeting 08/27/2024 at 4:30PM.
They will be taking up the agenda items that had originally been on the agenda for the cancelled 08/13/2024 meeting as well as one additional item.
The first item is a request that city staff and the mayor be authorize to immediately execute and file a Request for Exclusion with the appropriate courts and parties in the Tyco and BASF class action lawsuits so that the city is opted-out of these respective lawsuits.
Back in November of 2023, the Common Council voted to opt out of a class action lawsuit settlement with 3M and DuPont for PFAS contamination. Although the city did not currently need to conduct mitigation efforts and could have received up to $2 million in settlement dollars, it rejected that option in order to maintain its right to file a lawsuit or make an insurance claim should the need to do so arise in the future.
A similar PFAS contamination class action lawsuit has been filed against Tyco and BASF, and City Attorney Christopher Behrens is once again recommending that the city opt out of the class action lawsuits so that it can maintain its right to seek redress in the future should the need arise.
The second item is a request to approve an engineering services contract with Donohue and Associates, Inc as part of the Utilities Department network system upgrades project. The total amount of the contract including contingency is $256,324.
The third item, which is an addition to what had been on the 08/13 agenda, is a request to update Chapter 20, Article V of the Municipal Code pertaining to Stormwater Management Services to correct the late fee percentage that is assessed for unpaid balances. The existing ordinance lists a late fee assessment of 1.5%, but currently the city assesses only a 1% late fee.
Finally the committee will be receiving a final update on the 12/26/2022 Polymer Incident at the wastewater treatment plant. This was listed as an information item on the 08/13/2024 agenda, but is listed as an action item on this agenda.
View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1204446&GUID=8B3AE686-55F1-4A2C-8CE5-B2BB1B17058E
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