Before the Jefferson City Council meeting started Tuesday evening, the Council toured the renovations to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

It was mentioned during the tour that the biggest upgrade was adding nitrogen and phosphorus removal tanks to treat the wastewater, to adhere to the new regulations by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Another new structure was an enclosed and above ground sludge storage structure, whereas before there was an in ground, open storage facility. The city now has a 700,000 gallon storage structure that could hold up to one year of sludge.

Then during the City Council meeting there was one agenda item. There was a change order for the Wastewater Treatment Plant improvement project. Three options were provided for the Council to consider for coating the inside of the digester tanks. The Council chose to not do any coating due to the last time it was done in 2003, the coating failed after just two years and was able to function since then without any issues. But the tanks will be drained on a regular schedule, because they have never been drained, and will be inspected moving forward. The Council also approved a 35 day extension due to additional work on the aeration system.

During reports, City Administrator Scott Peterson said the Jefferson Street Committee is going to recommend to the City Council to not move forward with the proposal from the Iowa Department of Transportation to convert Highway 4 from four to three lanes. Peterson noted that this decision should be ultimately decided by the Council in the form of a resolution to accept the street committee’s recommendation at their November 12th meeting.