SIOUX CITY — The Sioux City Council will be asked Monday to discuss a new 25-year sewer treatment agreement with the Dakota Dunes Community Improvement District.
Last month, the council voted unanimously to approve agreements of the same length with North Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff. If the agreement with Dakota Dunes is approved, South Sioux City would be the lone sister city without an agreement.
South Sioux City is building its own $46.4 million wastewater treatment plant next to the Missouri River and north of the Tyson Fresh Meats lagoons. However, South Sioux City will continue to take its residential sewer across the north river crossing, according to Tom Pingel, the city’s utility director in charge of Sioux City’s regional wastewater treatment plant. Pingel previously told The Journal city officials expect to have all the sister cities under the new agreement before it expires.
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After five deferrals, the council voted unanimously in November 2019 to terminate the existing agreements. The termination notice becomes effective four years after receipt of the notice.
The previous agreements with Sergeant Bluff and North Sioux City had been established 39 years ago, while the agreement with South Sioux City had been in place for 38 years.
Dakota Dunes, a planned community that borders North Sioux City, entered into a sewer treatment agreement with Sioux City on Dec. 3, 1990. That agreement was subsequently amended and restated on April 12, 1993, May 14, 2007, and October 3, 2016.
The agreements had no sunset dates, and automatically renewed unless other action was taken, and didn’t provide Sioux City with any remedy when flow limits are exceeded.
On Nov. 25, 2019, the City of Sioux City gave notice of termination to the sister cities. They received a letter signed by Mayor Bob Scott, warning that the city may end the contracts that govern the amount of waste each community can send to Sioux City’s regional wastewater treatment plant at 3100 S. Lewis Blvd. and the rates each city pays.
According to city documents, the new agreement with Dakota Dunes, like the agreements with North Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff, will ensure that capacity at the Sioux City regional wastewater treatment plant doesn’t get over-allocated and implements several new provisions, including a fats, oil and grease program; odor and corrosion control; monitoring requirements and discharge limitations; a re-opener clause; and a user charge plan and payment to the City of Sioux City.
“Historically, the sister city agreements have been used to define the hydraulic loading that each sister city can contribute to Sioux City. Establishing an allocation for each city allows them to view it as a benchmark they can compare their historical wastewater generation to and evaluate their own capacity for growth,” the documents stated.
The new agreements will help the sister cities plan for economic growth, as well as attract businesses and residents to the region.
