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Cooperative strategy brings about new plan for wastewater treatment facility
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By Andrew Kuehl
akuehl@kewaskumstatesman.com
KEWASKUM- Residents will have another opportunity to voice their concerns regarding revisions to a state-mandated facilities plan regarding this village’s wastewater treatment facility. After paying for a second opinion, and a few meetings, the village board approved sending a revised, more economical facilities plan to the public at their January 22 meeting.
The new firm is not entirely responsible for the less expensive option however. The village’s administrator, Jay Shambeau, stated that along the process, in conjunction with approving a comprehensive growth plan, village officials realized their population projections were a bit bloated.
Shambeau stated the original population estimates were based on significant growth in 2004-2005 and a perception that there was going to be even greater growth ahead. After the numbers were officially changed, plans to retrofit the current wastewater treatment facility moved forward.
Second opinion sought and received
After a public hearing was held in August where residents expressed their distaste in spending $10.9 million on a new facility proposed by Ruekert-Mielke, the board agreed to seek a second opinion using the less aggressive growth population. In November the village board met with four engineering firms from around the state.
The board ultimately chose Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer and Associates of Milwaukee (GAS) to conduct a peer review of the original facilities plan written by Ruekert-Mielke. The cost for reviewing the existing facilities plan by GAS, cost taxpayers $24,934.00. Originally, trustees thought they might pay as much as $60,000 for a second opinion.
At the January 8 village board meeting, GAS project manager, Dan Goetsch, presented his firm’s amendments to the plan authored by Ruekert-Mielke. He reported that his company found the existing facility has its strengths and weaknesses.
The weaknesses the plant experiences are long duration of high volume peaks that go on three to five days. Goetsch also noted capacity concerns resulting in poor flow through the plant.
“The DNR is concerned with overall capacity, the primary clarifier and a lack of process control,” he noted.
Competitors working side-by-side to provide one plan
At a Public Works Committee meeting held Thursday, January 11, the two firms joined the committee and ultimately were charged with coming up with a final revision to the original plan and presenting it to the DNR. Working separately, the two firms each came up with revised plans and then integrated the two plans into one.
On Monday, January 22, the combined plan was presented to village trustees. Goetsch said he wanted to see the village upgrade and expand the current plant through a phased improvement process. The process would essentially leave the plant in new condition and ready the plant for future upgrades if they are needed.
The retrofit would be started by the elimination of the plant’s primary clarifier. That piece of equipment would be replaced with a headworks facility that removes grit and solids from flowage before it enters the plant. He pointed out that grit causes excessive wear on pumps and wastes tank capacity.
Upgrades would be addressed in the blower building to give a dedicated air source to the digesters and the sludge receiving tank. The existing air main would be used as a dedicated air source to the aeration tank.
Walls in the aeration tank would be extended to operate with a normal water level of one foot added above the current level. This measure would allow for additional treatment volume and allow the plant to treat higher flows.
Updates would also take place in the sludge pumping building. A tank for receiving decant sludge would be constructed new or modified from a secondary clarifier. The Ultraviolet equipment would be relocated and expanded to add capacity for future growth. Electrical and computer systems would be upgraded throughout the plant as well.
The revised plan shows that the facility should handle 670,000 gallons daily. The facility is designed to handle a peak flow of 3.15 mgd (millions of gallons per day). The current average daily flow is at between 400,000 - 500,000 gallons per day.
The GAS/Ruekert-Mielke plan is designed to service the village until 2026 when the population is projected to increase to 5,200 people.
Environmental Engineer for the DNR, Judith Gottlieb, stated Tuesday that she has reviewed a draft from early January. “I have not seen the plan that is finalized and taken to the board,” she reported.
Gottlieb stated that she accepts the new population figure, but is concerned with the method used to estimate peak flows in the amendment. She shared alternate values in a recent meeting with the Village and the engineers. “Those numbers are different enough to affect the proposal if not changed,” she concluded.
Gottlieb will be present at the public hearing in March.
Dollars and cents
The combined GAS/Ruekert-Mielke plan is projected to cost $3,441,932. This includes all engineering and contingencies. Financial assistance is expected to be available from the Wisconsin Clean Water Fund. The fund provides long-term loans for eligible projects at or below market interest rates.
A typical residential household using 60,000 gallons of water annually, would pay approximately $345 per year. This is more than likely to be increased in the future. The village also maintains a sewer impact fee that is charged to new developments. The village currently charges $1,912.
All costs are dependent upon what the village charges for impact fees. The state impact fee law changed in 2006. The village must now pay its engineers to amend the needs assessment for all impact fees.
Shambeau stated that the current needs assessment does not include provisions for the retrofit at the wastewater treatment facility and that fee could see an increase. However, the water impact fee is expected to decrease. “We don’t expect the combined impact fee to increase, but where money is appropriated will change,” he stated.
Kewaskum’s wastewater woes arose after flooding in 2004. Kewaskum, along with a significant number of municipalities, were forced to bypass overflows from the plant into the Milwaukee River. The DNR stepped in, and has forced the village to address failures found in the facility before renewing a five-year discharge permit set to expire in 2009. The village has already addressed a number of these mandates.
The current facility was constructed in 1954 and received major renovations in 1972.
A December 31, 2006 deadline, set by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has already passed. Because the process is moving along, Judith Gottlieb from the DNR, has not made an issue of that deadline.
The public hearing is planned for Thursday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building Annex on Fond du Lac Avenue. A copy of the revised facilities plan will be available for the public to review at the Village Hall and Kewaskum Public Library after February 1. The Statesman newspaper will also offer an electronic version of the document on this website as soon as it’s available from Ruekert-Mielke.
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