(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic has a short agenda for their first meeting in December, this Wednesday (12/1). The meeting begins at 5:30-p.m. in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall, and will include discussion and action on:

• A Resolution approving the CY (Calendar Year) 2022 budget for Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU),
• and, a required nutrient reduction study (NRS) with Snyder & Associates for the wastewater treatment plant.

City Administrator John Lund says AMU is an entity of the City, but they are governed by their own oversight board (Atlantic’s Utility Board of Trustees). In accordance with the Code of Iowa, the City must approve their budget, in order for it go into effect. The City traditionally passes the AMU budget without issue, because there is oversight by the Trustees. And, with regard to the NRS, the City of Atlantic was granted an amended National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDS) permit for the wastewater treatment plant. The permit requires a report that evaluates the feasibility and reasonableness of reducing the quantity of phosphorus the City discharges into the East Nishnabotna River.

The permit for the City’s Plant to continue operations requires a nutrient reduction strategy (NRS) for phosphorus to be turned in to the Iowa DNR by August 1, 2022. John Lund says Wastewater Superintendent Tim Snyder is developing several strategies to improve the City’s numbers, using the technology it currently has in-place. Crews with the plant have attended EPA webinars in an effort to learn new ideas and processes for optimizing nutrient reduction in the discharged water. A proposal for a nutrient reduction study by Snyder and Associates has a lump sum fee of $19,750. Development of alternatives for nutrient reduction compliance will be an hourly fee, Lund says, but the estimated will be $9,600, for a combined cost of $29,350.

Lund says that “may seem like a lot, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the consequences of a poorly prepared report. He notes, if approved, this would be the second NRS conducted by Snyder and Associates. The original study was approved by the Council in July, 2014, at a cost of $9,700.