The Pella City Council approved a resolution for a multi-million sewer improvement project at Tuesday night’s City Council Meeting. The project is in accordance with a DNR mandate to eliminate wastewater bypasses by 2012.

Representatives of the city’s engineering firm for the project and the Iowa DNR were both in attendance to answer questions from the council, which expressed their displeasure with being forced to undertake such an expensive project.

The $3.4 million in sewer system improvements is scheduled to be completed in three years and will likely increase resident’s sewer rates by as much as 40 to 50 percent.

In other business, the council approved the second reading and waived the third reading to adopt a resolution exempting certain commercial areas from paving requirements for parking lots; and approved the placement of stop signs and changes in speed limits for newly annexed property on the east edge of Pella.