The Austin City Council preliminarily approved consultants to begin design work on upgrading the Wastewater Treatment Plant’s anaerobic digesters at a work session meeting Monday.

The city has $3 million set aside through the Capital Improvement Plan to complete upgrades to the treatment plant, and council members agreed to pay consultants at Short Elliot Hendrickson Inc. about $365,000 to design the upgrades to the facility’s digestive units.

“This is budgeted,” Mayor Tom Stiehm told council members. “We’ve been planning on this.”

The council’s actions follow SEH’s feasibility study on the treatment plant’s digestors done last year, which found the city’s digesters were originally built between 1938 and 1958, with their covers rebuilt in the 1980s. SEH identified several improvements needed on the digestors, which include replacing the covers, replacing boiler/heat exchangers, installing a new mixing system and upgrading controls, metering and monitoring systems, among improvements.

Parking

Council members also approved two-hour restricted parking along the 800 block of Third Street Northwest by Eighth Avenue.

A resident complained to the city people had parked for extended periods of time in front of his property, making it difficult for snow plows and street sweepers to clean up his side of the street. The resident tried to put up his own parking signs, but the city asked they be removed. The council unanimously voted to approve parking restrictions in the area at its previous work session.

In other news, the council:

— Tabled an agreement with Mower County on the joint Law Enforcement Center renovation project. City Administrator Jim Hurm said the county did not give materials concerning the renovation project to the city in time for Monday’s public meeting.

—Approved an airport property farm lease with Scott Family Farms, LLC.

—Gave the Planning and Zoning Department permission to remove junk and/or illegally stored vehicles at 408 Second St. SE.