By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Future enhancements to Whitewater’s wastewater treatment facility continue to be reviewed by city staffers and a hired engineering consulting firm. Plans call for pumping $18.7 million in improvements into the site.
Tim Reel, the city’s wastewater division superintendent, came before the Common Council on Dec. 16 with representatives from Milwaukee-based engineering consulting firm Donohue and Associates Inc.
In July, the council voted to move forward with designing improvements for the wastewater plant, located at 109 County Road U, as it is poised for a major overhaul in the years ahead.
Reel has stated the planned improvements to the 32-year-old facility are designed to address “numerous infrastructure deficiencies.”
To fund the work, the city has taken to borrowing, and rate adjustments will be needed to fulfill the loan requirements. The rate issue was left out of the city’s 2015 budget talks, but further discussion on how much users can anticipate to pay in additional contributions is expected in the near future.
During last week’s discussion, city officials discussed a number of issues pertaining to the wastewater plant, including the tentative timeline for the tail end of the planning stage and the actual implementation of the work.
In February, plans call for Donohue representatives to present the city with preliminary results of the proposed user rate study. In August, design documents for the improvements are to be completed, and in November, the city is to entertain competitive bids for construction work.
The city anticipates implementing revised user rates in January 2016, and the actual construction of the improvements is to take place a month later.
The goal, Reel said, is to have the entire project finalized by May 2018.
