The Finance Committee met 07/07/2025. They had five action items on their agenda including a contract for water tower booster pump improvements, a contract for grading and capping the quarry in Mackville that Appleton owns, the sole source purchase of new police radios, the sole source purchase of a phosphorus analyzer for the wastewater treatment plan, and a contract award for the Summer Street Lift Station Replacement Project.
All 5 of the items were unanimously recommended for approval by the committee.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
SOLE SOURCE ENGINEERING BIDDING AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES CONTRACT TO MCMAHON AS PART OF WATER TOWER BOOSTER PUMP IMPROVEMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $28,000 WITH A 10% CONTINGENCY OF $2,800 FOR A TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED $30,800 – The Matthias Street water tower experienced water pressure issues after the (then) new water treatment plan was constructed on Manitowoc Road and the old water treatment plant downs in the flats where Ellen Kort Peace Part is now located was shut down. In 2001 a booster pump was installed at the base of the tower. In 2021, McMahon Associates, Inc recommended upsizing the booster pump at the Matthias tower and adding new booster pumps at the Glendale tower to restore the operational hydraulic profile of the city’s water distribution system. The city already has a contract with McMahon for them to provide engineering and design services for the Water Tower Booster Pump Improvements Project, and now city staff would like them to manage the bidding and construction services associated with the project. McMahon is able to offer a good price for the services and they have knowledge and experience of the Matthias tower specifically dating back to its construction in 1988 as well as extensive knowledge of the city’s overall water distribution system.
Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) said that she felt this project had been on the books since she became an alderperson and asked if this would finally resolve the issues.
Utilities Director Chris Stempa said that the master water distribution plan had been updated in 2018-2019 at which time some shortcomings and low pressure zones had been identified. Since that time they had worked on exhausting or eliminated options to fix those issues. One of those options had been constructing a new elevated water tower, a new ground reservoir, and a new pressure release valve station. Adding new booster pumps, on the other hand, would at least provide more time to evaluate all the infrastructure and would provide options down the road.
UNIT 33-25 MACKVILLE QUARRY GRADING AND CAPPING CONTRACT TO MCC, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $131,126.25 WITH A 15% CONTINGENCY OF $19,667.94 FOR A CONTRACT TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED $150,795.19 – The city owns what was formerly an asphalt quarry site in Mackville. It used to use it as a leaf composting site and more recently has used it as a disposal site for low hazard waste associated with a number of city projects including the library project, some pond sites, the Rocky Bleier run, and bridge works. Using the site to dispose of such waste has saved the city hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years by not having to take it to the landfill.
Now Appleton is ready to close the site out and are required by the DNA to place a two-foot cap of clean material on top of the disposed waste. They also want to reestablish a compost pad to the they have the ability to resume composting activities there.
The city had budgeted $250,000 for the project, but all four of the bids had come in well below that. Public Works Deputy Director Pete Neuberger thought there were two reasons for the low bids. (1) When the city developed the budget they didn’t have a final grading plan yet so they weren’t sure how much soil they would need to cover the site. (2) When you go out for bid on a project like this, you’re never sure what source of materials the contractors will have available to them or what the haul distances will be. “Contractors are really good at finding ways to make use of the materials that they have on hand, so I think we were—I would chalk this up to us being fortunate enough to having some contractors that had material close by that they needed to get rid of.”
Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) asked about the 15% contingency which he thought seemed a little high. Public Works Deputy Director Pete Neuberger said that when doing grading activities and dealing with soil you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get, so the higher than normal contingency was just taking advantage of the extra budget room to make sure the project could be done correctly.
2026 SOLE SOURCE AGREEMENT WITH BAYCOM AND MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS FOR PORTABLE RADIOS TO RECEIVE PROMOTIONAL DISCOUNT – The Police Department’s existing portable radios were purchased in 2013 and are operating beyond their recommend lifecycle of 7-10 years. They needed to be replaced as a group in order to ensure compatibility. If they were able to enter into an agreement with Baycom and Motorola Solutions before 07/31/2025 the city would receive a 17.8% discount reducing the per radio cost to $4,640 for overall savings of $115,575. The total cost of the purchase would be $533,600.
Police Chief Polly Olson said that they became aware that the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department was looking at adding or upgrading radios for next year and they worked with them to do a joint purchase which is also what they did back in 2013. Doing so would allow them to get a reduced price.
She had already planned on requesting budget funds for this in 2026, but when they learned they could saved money by moving a little more quickly on the agreement she thought that was well worth seeking approval from the committee and Council now. If approved, they would sign the contract with them now, but not pay unless/until it was approved as part of the 2026 budget.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked about the sole source nature of the contract. Police Chief Olson said that last time they purchases radios they did text some different brands that were less expensive. “[T]here’s a clear difference in the quality of radio, how long it lasts. The fact that we were able to get as many years out of this radio to begin with, I think is well worth going with this company in this brand of radio.” Additionally, these updated radios all had the same design as the existing radios, all of the buttons were in the same place, and from the user’s standpoint they functioned the same, so that would reduce the learning curve for all of the officers. Beyond that, they would attach to the belts or vests the same as existing radios which would eliminate that ancillary cost associated with moving to a different design.
SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE OF APPLETON WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT PHOSPHORUS ANALYZER TO WILLIAM REID LTD. FOR A TOTAL COST NOT TO EXCEED $49,845 – The wastewater treatment plant’s existing phosphorus analyzer is 11 years old and has reached the end of its useful life. The City did not go out for bid on the equipment. Rather, staff approached replacing the equipment with a process similar to how they would score an RFP for consulting services, with a team of staff members reviewing phosphorus analyzers for two vendors and scoring them across a range of criteria. The final recommendation was not based on cost but on the scoring of that criteria.
The Chemscan miniOP scored 229 as compared to the Xylem YSI/Alyza IQ which scored only 171. Per the memo, “The Chemscan miniOP scored higher in multiple categories, notably in consistency, ease of maintenance, and total cost of ownership. The evaluation team noted that while both units are viable options, the Chemscan miniOP offered better performance and operational value for long-term use.”
AWARD CONTRACT TO ADVANCE CONSTRUCTION, INC. FOR THE SUMMER STREET LIFT STATION REPLACEMENT PROJECT IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,194,000 WITH A 7.5% CONTINGENCY OF $89,550 FOR A PROJECT TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED $1,283,550 – The committee members did not have any questions or comments regarding this item.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend all five items for approval.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1314423&GUID=7E96FCDE-19B7-4855-8663-633036477566
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