Giant curing piles of compost, processed from human waste and yard clippings, had overtaken nearly all the plowed space at the Hornsby Bend wastewater plant in June, as the staff fretted about how to get rid of them.

An updated contract to process the plant’s biosolids has been on hold since December amid a review of city waste contract policies, and despite the uncertainty, Austinites kept flushing their toilets. More than 60,000 cubic yards of unscreened compost was on the site, staffers estimated, some of it having sat there for a year.

Soon, after more than a half-year delay, bidding on a new contract might finally move forward — with stricter requirements to produce only compost from the biosolids — if the City Council approves recommendations from a working group.