City approves letter for potential electricity resale

Mar. 6—OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa City Council voted unanimously during Tuesday's meeting to sign a letter that would potentially allow an energy firm to capture gas and resell it as electricity.

The firm, Vespene Energy, asked the city to do the project at the Ottumwa/Wapello County Landfill, where the landfill would be paid a royalty for converted electricity. Vespene would capture methane gas, then transform it as electricity and resell it to the grid.

Director of community development Zach Simonson said the process could eventually add revenue for the city.

"Something we're paying attention to as part of that program is that the value of that energy goes up significantly when they're allowed to sell that electricity back to the grid," he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently in the process of writing rules for what is called the Electric Pathway within the Renewable Energy Standard. Mostly, the electricity generated would power electric vehicles.

"The power to be sold from methane production at small sites like ours could power those vehicles and power anything else that uses electricity," Simonson said. "That would allow the value of the royalty that they would pay to us to go up significantly. It wouldn't be just what they can make off a data center initially, but it would be the actual value of electricity.

"They think it would be a better arrangement for us."

Simonson said the landfill flares some methane already because they have to monitor the migration of the gas. Any electricity sold would likely go to Alliant Energy.

"It sounds like it could be a good revenue stream in the future," mayor Rick Johnson said.

"I think it will be valuable regardless, and this is something that Congress has already set them on the path to doing. I think it's eventually going to come together," Simonson said. "But the faster we can come together, the more valuable that royalty is going to be for us. Kind of looking at their numbers, at least 30%, and maybe 40% to 50% greater value."

In other business:

— Cole O'Donnell was introduced as the city's new finance director. O'Donnell, who most recently spent five years as the finance director in Keokuk, has 30 years of experience in city management.

Tuesday was his first day on the job, as he replaces interim finance director Jessica Kinser, who will begin a city administrator job in Faribault, Minnesota, April 1 and has worked for Ottumwa since last summer to straighten out the city's finances.

O'Donnell said he had been serving an interim role with the City of Baxter after both its city clerk and utility clerk left at the same time. He has four children all either in college or already in their careers.

"Today has been kind of busy," he said. "As I'm trying to do everything here I'm getting a million texts because my daughter is buying her first car and the oldest one is buying his first house."

O'Donnell grew up in Huxley, which is just south of Ames. He also has spent time as a city manager in Dixon, Illinois, and as a city administrator in Algona, Renville, Minnesota, and East Moline, Illinois. He also was a city clerk and finance officer in Denver, just north of Waterloo.

— The council approved selling a parcel of land on North Court Street to Indian Hills Community College for its construction technology department.

The college plans to build a single-family home on the lot, which was the site of a home that was demolished. The city sold the lot for $1, which is typical if either the college or Ottumwa High School uses the land for its building trades programs.

Simonson said there are two buildable lots on the property.

— The council approved a changer order to the Legacy Soccer Complex, which will reduce the construction costs from approximately $3 million to about $2.8 million because a concrete parking lot will now be gravel.

Council member Keith Caviness was curious who suggested the change in parking surface.

"The Legacy Foundation requested it so that the project would fit within their annual budget guidelins," parks and recreation director Gene Rathje said. "And it was also decided to spread it out over a two-year time period for the same reason rather than do it all in one year."

Rathje added that the gravel will stay for the short term, but could be replaced by concrete parking "once there's more funding."

The Ottumwa Regional Legacy Foundation is paying for the construction of the three-field complex in Ottumwa Park, which is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2025.

— It was announced there will be an Ottumwa Historic Preservation community workshop Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at Hotel Ottumwa to discuss the upcoming historic preservation plan.

— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury