City council finalized a new partnership with the Qawalangin tribe at their last meeting of the year Tuesday.

The council approved two agreements with the tribe -- one to let the city and tribe cooperate on projects on tribe lands, and one specifically about working together on replacing Summer Bay Bridge.

That agreement will let the city use a million-dollar grant the tribe got for the project.

The city approved $550,000 for the project in its fiscal year 2014 budget. The tribe is also contributing funds of its own. The project will cost $1.7 million dollars in total.

Councilor Dennis Robinson says this agreement has been a long time coming, and it’ll be a boon to the city for future projects.

"The city overall would benefit greatly from partnerships just like this," he said. "Especially in the light of shrinking government money, there is lots of grant money available, still, and it’s available through the tribe."

Council also approved changes to rent at the city 8-plex after some debate. The resolution means shared utility costs will be included in the rents at the building. The city took a two-year average of the shared utility costs and added that on to the rents -- making it $1,600 for a two-bedroom and $2,000 for a three-bedroom.

Right now, tenants pay less in rent, but they also pay separate shared and individual utility costs. City staff said the changes would simplify the budgeting process for everyone.

One resident signed up to speak on the issue. Travis Schiaffo is a city employee who lives in the 8-plex. He said the shared utility costs can run too high because of tenants who don’t try to conserve energy.

"What I’d hate to see is more of my money going into a bill that could be less, paying individually, versus a rounded-up $300 bill hike," he said. "What I’d like to see is a more focused meeting with all the residents of the city 8-plex, so we can come to terms with a better option versus just hiking up the rent and trying to cover all the problems."

But Mayor Shirley Marquardt said this isn’t a rent hike -- just a restructuring of how tenants pay the bills they already have.

She said the city would help facilitate a tenant meeting to help Schiaffo and his neighbors work out how to keep costs low. City staff said they’d plan to take a new average for the shared utility cost every year.

The rental changes passed unanimously.

Council also approved pay raises for Title 3 employees. It’s the first step in implementing a study that said the city needed to offer more flexible, competitive wages. After weeks of discussion, the council passed the new pay scales with no objections.

They also voted to settle out of court with Granite Construction, after problems with the city paving project last year. Under the agreement, Granite would pay the city $1.6 million dollars to settle the dispute over shoddy work on Airport Beach Road and East Broadway. And the city would pay Granite $1.4 million for work that was done. The city will be responsible for work going forward.

The council voted to accept a $3 million dollar state grant to finish wastewater treatment plant upgrades, as well as an $8.8 million dollar loan to expand the landfill. Those were resolutions in the consent agenda, which is typically passed with no discussion.

A donation to typhoon relief in the Philippines was also on that agenda. But councilor Tom Enlow moved to relocate it to regular business for discussion.

Council was considering making $5,000 donation to Catholic Relief Services, after the Fil-Am Association asked them to support relief efforts last month.

Enlow said he’d heard from a member of the public who was concerned that the city was setting a bad precedent by making the donation. But he said he thinks it’s appropriate to donate in this case.

"We have a special relationship with the [Filipino] community. They're embedded in this community," he said. "They’re citizens who are totally involved, not only in their own concerns but in the entire community’s concerns."

The resolution to make the donation passed unanimously.

Last night’s meeting wrapped up the council’s calendar year. They’ll reconvene in January.