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Sibley City Council member Larry Pedley listens about the city’s ongoing wastewater survey at a Feb. 14 council meeting.

Sibley City Council member Larry Pedley listens about the city’s ongoing wastewater survey at a Feb. 14 council meeting.

SIBLEY—Sibley is due for improvements to its wastewater treatment system, and Steve Hallgren has been pounding the pavement.

As the city’s planning and zoning administrator, Hallgren has been surveying households to meet application requirements for a $600,000 Community Development Block Grant the city hopes will offset project costs.

The improvement project is necessary to remain in compliance with changing requirements issued by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

“In order for us to stay in compliance with current and improved DNR regulations. We are looking at reducing our ammonia and e coli levels through our treatment process, but in the process, we are also making improvements,” said Sibley water superintendent Cory Dykstra.

Sibley’s existing wastewater treatment facility, which includes the wastewater lift station and lagoon structures, is more than 40 years old and in need of an upgrade, according to Dykstra. He said the improved facility will meet compliance requirements and be more efficient.

Hallgren is working to secure grant money to be put toward the improvement project, estimated to cost the city $4.2 million. That savings would be passed on to Sibley residents in the form of less significant rate hikes in the future, Hallgren said.

“If the city receives the grant, it’s ultimately helping to keep sewer bills lower,” Hallgren said. “Either way, undertaking this size of project, sewer bills are going to go up — up a little, or up a lot.”

Dykstra said future rate increases will depend in part on whether the city secures grant funding.

“The city is hoping to pass on a minimal amount of the costs to the customer,” Dykstra said.

At the last regular council meeting on Monday, March 14, Hallgren updated council members on his progress, which had been impeded by a low community-response rate.

He said the city needs 395 completed surveys but had only received about 75.

The stipulations of the grant require the city to demonstrate, through a random survey sample, that at least 51 percent of moderate- to low-income households are in favor of the proposed improvement project. Hallgren worked with Sibley city clerk Susan Sembach to draw up a list of every third Sibley household. Hallgren has been out walking the streets, knocking on doors and administering the three-question survey.

Hallgren said nearly all residents he’s spoken to are in favor of the project, once he explains why it’s necessary. The problem is catching people at home.

“I’m kind of readjusting my game plan,” Hallgren said.

He went on to explain he intends to begin trying to reach Sibley residents by phone in the evening hours given many aren’t home during the business day, when he’s out walking.

“I’ve still got two and a half weeks to do it, and I’m going to push my darndest,” he said on March 14.

At the council meeting, members discussed a social media push, to help inform the public about the project and hopefully increase the survey-response rate.

“At this point, we’re just encouraging any person that received a survey in the mail to fill it out and return it to city hall,” Hallgren said.

Dykstra said the wastewater improvement project is a necessary public good, and he encouraged residents to fill out and return their surveys if they received one in the mail.

“Wastewater treatment is something that’s not really thought about until it doesn’t work,” Dykstra said. “It’s a hidden necessity.”

During its March 14 meeting, the Sibley City Council also:

SIBLEY—Glenn Anderson is out as Sibley’s city administrator effectively immediately after the city council voided his 45-day resignation notice.

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