Water treatment facility drowned again by Council  

City opts to abandon Northeast Water Treatment Facility project for time being

By Kellen Olshefski

Editor

A split-vote sealed the fate of the Northeast Water Treatment Facility project Monday night as Aldermen decided not to move forward with a redesign of the plant.

To-date, the City has committed approximately $1.6 million for the construction of the two wells and engineering for the site, according to a May letter from Doug Snyder of Baxter & Woodman, Inc., Consulting Engineers, who has been working with the City on the project.

Though the project was originally shot down in early May, an alternative plan to redesign the facility and bring one-well into operation, allowing for the addition of equipment to bring the second well online at a later date, was brought before the Municipal Services and Utilities Committee in mid-May.

City Administrator Sam Tapson said Monday night that the topic was brought before the board because a decision needed to be made on whether or not the City wanted to redesign the facility.

Tapson said previous concerns about the redesign have been based on potential costs.

According to Tapson, in an agreement between Baxter and Woodman and the City, if the City were to move forward with the redesign and the project, the redesign of the facility would come at no cost to the City. However, if the City chose to have the facility redesigned and then decided not to move forward with the project, the city would have to pay for the redesign service, a rough cost of $280,000.

City of Elkhorn Utilities Director John Murhpy said the City had three options before it Monday night: to do nothing, buy into the whole plant (a likely 38 percent to 42 percent rate increase for residents), or build half of the plant.

“The decision tonight is do you want to build half a plant, or do you not want to build half a plant,” he said.

Current concerns

Murhpy said the City is facing “huge issues” surrounding the city’s Centralia Street water treatment facility.

“We are living day-to-day with that system down there,” he said. “The chances are, of that failing, pretty good.”

Alderman Scott McClory asked Murphy if there was any doubt in his mind the Centralia plant would fail.

“Everyday I have that feeling because everyday we have issues down there,” he said.

According to Murphy, the Centralia plant has already outlived its livelihood twice.

Murphy said the City has the capabilities to take half of the Centralia plant down to perform maintenance on the treatment side. However, if the pipe connecting the reservoir with the treatment plant were to go down, which Murphy described as the plant’s weakest link, the entire plant would be rendered useless for likely three to five months.

“If we lose that link between the reservoir and the plant, we’re done,” he said.

According to Murphy, if the whole plant were to go down, Elkhorn’s Water Utility would not be able to meet the summer peak needs.

“We’re talking about limiting water usage,” he said. “July, in history, has been your highest usage.”

Murphy said with the addition of the new facility however, if Centralia were to go down, the Lakeland plant and the new facility would cover water needs for Elkhorn and the City wouldn’t need to do anything with the Centralia facility.

In addition, Murphy said the City is facing other issues with its water system, such as Well 7 out at the Lakeland treatment facility, which is losing yield, resulting in pumping levels that are at an all-time low.

“There’s other issues when it comes to providing good, quality drinking water in this community,” he said. “We’re going to have to invest money in the near future, that’s a given.”

Mayor Brian Olson suggested the project be pushed out to 2019 when City debts will have begun to decline.

“I understand the borrowing’s different, but when you tell me I’m going to be paying $30 extra a month because we need a water plant, or we don’t need a water plant, that’s telling me you’re taxing me,” he said. “I look at that as a tax. They won’t offset each other but it gives it more of a palatable feel.”

“We’re willing to tax every single person in the city for everything, but something that is so vital, we’re still struggling to beat the burden of something that we know is going to fail,” McClory said.

McClory said if the plant were to fail today, the city is still 18 to 24 months away from having a new facility built and that if the City continues to drag its feet on the project, it’s going to cost more money and the City might be facing fines with the Wisconsin DNR.

“We can debate whether the plant will go down tomorrow or 25 years from now, but the reality is it’s an aged plant that has outlived its useful life cycle, it has some inherent difficulties, maintenance problems,” Tapson said. “Is it time to make a proactive move for future usage, or not.

“I understand it’s a 25 or 30 percent rate increase. I don’t know how you walk around that. It’s going to be real no matter when you do it.”

Aldermen McClory, Gary Payson, Sr., and Hoss Rehberg cast votes in favor of moving forward with the redesign of the facility with the intent to move forward with the project. Aldermen James D’Alessandro, Tom Myrin and Gregory Huss voted in opposition. Mayor Olson cast the deciding vote.