Reversal requested after 4-3 sewer vote

Funding to move an old sewer line off of private property in order to build new housing passed at Creston City Council 4-3 Tuesday night, with a call to veto the decision coming soon after.

Construction of new housing is ready to go at the old Lincoln School site, but before anything can begin, the main sewage tank needs to be moved off of the private property. In June, Austin Smith, representing Garden and Associates and Parkway Heights Rowhouses LLC, spoke with the council about changing the location of the main sewage tank, the sizing of the main lines and adding two manholes.

At that meeting, Smith said the developer proposed a cost-sharing plan with the sewer changes. The developer would pay for the east-west segment while the city would pay for the north-south portion of the sanitary sewer relocation. While no formal vote was taken, all present council members said they were in favor of the idea.

However, when Smith brought bids with the cost of both materials and installation in on Tuesday, not all council members were on the same page.

“I guess the way I’m looking at it is, we discussed that we were all pretty much in favor of materials only, so if it’s going to go above and beyond that, I want some more conversation,” council member Jocelyn Blazek said.

Creston Waste Water Superintendent Jim Bristow was also against immediately approving the project but for a different reason.

“I’d rather not pay for any of it. Materials [only] at the worst case scenario. Our budget’s pretty tight this year anyway, and if you’re basically giving away 40%+ of my budget, I’m not going to be able to do hardly any slip lining,” Bristow said. “Contractors won’t come in unless I provide a certain number of blocks. They’re not going to just come in for one block. We had planned on doing a large section up by the high school. If I get two blocks, maybe at the most, that would be it, and at that point it’s really not worth it.”

However, due to the placement of the sewage tank and makeup of the pipes, a similar amount of work would have to be done just to keep the sewage system where it is.

"Common sense goes a long ways for everyone. It just has to be moved, period," council member Steve Wintermute said.

The developer is paying for part of the movement due to the location of the main, but the sewer is also connected to handful of other homes on Myrtle and Jefferson streets.

“They’re already covering $25,000, they have their own expenses. They’re bringing it out to the alley. They have their own sewer line expenses,” council member Kiki Scarberry said. “From Myrtle down to Adams is where we’re talking about the line, and that is the city line that they’d be hooking into. That, to me, is our responsibility as a city.”

However, Scarberry questioned why the total city expense needed to come out of the smaller sewer budget when Bristow already had a project to pay for.

“Is there any reason we can’t have that come out of the general fund and not have it come directly out of your budget because it wasn’t originally budgeted out of your department?” Scarberry asked. “I guess, when we were talking about providing the funds for this unbudgeted line item, it was not in my mind that we would reduce your budget by $40,000.”

The lowest bid for the city portion of the sewer project came from Friday Excavation of Lorimor. The bid includes two manholes, removal and paving of driveways, trench compaction testing, piping and mobilization for a total of $40,645.

Scarberry made a motion to approve this bid, seconded by council member Martin Graham. A roll call followed, with council members Scarberry, Wintermute, Graham and Josh Thompson voting in favor and council members Jen Worisek, Blazek and Richard Madison voting against it. The motion passed 4-3.

However, the topic was brought back up later in the meeting, following regular agenda items. During “Other,” Blazek said following a reading of the transcription from the June meeting, she believed the council voted without understanding the issue.

She read from the transcript, citing the term infrastructure.

“Infrastructure, not actually installing anything. Again, I feel like I was on the right page. We discussed materials only,” Blazek said. “Just the actual infrustructure, which to me means actual materials. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe you guys interpret infrastructure as actually completing all the work. I didn’t read it that way.”

She then requested Madison, acting as mayor pro-tem, to veto the passing of the resolution. However, since Madison is pro-tem, not full mayor, he does not have that capability.

“I feel that the decision that was made was fiscally irresponsible on the part of this council because I don’t feel we were all on the same page regarding this decision, which to me amounts of a good amount of money, particularly one where the manager of that department expressed concern about it not being budgeted for,” Blazek said.

Scarberry said she understood infrastructure as including the installation of piping.

“I don’t feel like we voted in any way that was not appropriate because that’s how the conversation went for me,” Scarberry said. “To me, infrastructure is you have to put it in.”

Blazek still showed interest in working with the city attorney to overturn the decision.

“I’m extremely disappointed right now with a number of members of the council,” Blazek said. “I’d like to explore what other options we have for reversing that decision.”

In other council news…

Previously discussed changes to the McKinley Lake dredging project were approved by the council 6-1, with only Wintermute voting against the changes.

The council approved new signage for the Restored Depot, looking almost the same as the previous one but with font to match the new city branding. The previous sign was taken down when depot windows were being replaced and was not in good enough shape to return to the building.

Two acts for the 2026 Party in the Park are official. The council approved performance contracts with country singer SJ McDonald and oldies rock band The Rivieras. Party in the Park will be held Saturday, June 27.

The city has received numerous complaints regarding driver visibility due to fencing and privacy mesh placed around the construction site at the old Lincoln School. The city is actively working with the developer to get the issue fixed.

The council appointed five members of the Rural Housing Readiness Committee to a new housing review committee for the Community Neighborhood Revitalization Grant. Committee members include Melissa Driskell, Paul Fuller, Dan Waigand, Bobby Wintermute and Smith.