MONROE - The Monroe Common Council took no action in a special meeting Tuesday to consider changes to the wastewater treatment plant upgrade plans.
The $23 million project will be done in one phase, as it was approved Nov. 9, clearing the way for it to be advertised as early as Thursday and documents distributed to prospective bidders on Friday. Construction is expected to start in March.
On the council's agenda was whether to save $315,000 in interest annually, starting in 2018, by cutting the plan, and the associated borrowing, into two phases.
Council members also considered installing a newer technology for removing phosphate at an added cost of $8 million, rather than upgrade the method currently used, in anticipation of meeting more stringent Department of Natural Resources requirements by 2021.
Both new options were presented by Alan Eckstein, the current water utility director.
If done in two phases, the project would, at total completion, save about $2.3 million in upfront costs, Eckstein said
Council also heard from past and present wastewater employees, including Jerry Ellefson, who retired in 2009 after 40 years as the city WWTP superintendent, and Jay Kemp of AECOM. AECOM, a Madison engineering firm, was hired in early 2011 to plan the upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant and authorized in early 2012 to design the facility. All advocated for staying the course on the construction plans, in view of the age and capacity limits of the plant.
Eckstein, however, said the 29-year old plant is receiving good grades, "mostly all As" on its Compliance Maintenance Annual Report, an annual self-evaluation report required by the DNR since 1984.
One area of concern in at least three or four previous annual reports is a grade F in biosolids management, caused mostly by the lack of space to store leftover solid waste. The new upgrades are expected to fix that black mark.
Monroe has a concentration of food industries, including cheese and beer and other "wet" industries, such as ethanol, that are high producers of wastewater. Everyone at the meeting agreed the facility, built in the 1980s to last 10 years, has reached its peak capacity and is due for an upgrade.
"Our plant is really an industrial treatment plant treating a little bit of residential waste," Ellefson said. Delaying the upgrades any longer would have a detrimental effect on any further economic development in industry, commercial and residential building, he added.
The plant is "now operating on a ragged edge," with plant employees working overtime to keep it operational, Ellefson added.
Alderman Brooke Bauman said she was concerned about what pressures the delay is putting on the staff and about the possible impact on future economic development. "That's huge," she said.
But she also looked to the future of the council actions.
When the second phase "comes up in five years, would we find excuses not to do it?" she asked.
Comptroller Bridget Schuchart had hoped for the project to come in two phases. "The less we borrow at one time, the less interest we pay," she said after the council adjourned.
The two phase approach would "allow an opportunity to change at a late date. If the DNR changes (requirements), we're not locked in to the project price," Schuchart said. Under the current project, the city would have to "borrow more or scale back the project," she said.
On Tuesday, the council also approved AECOM to oversee and inspect the construction of the upgrades, at a cost of $1.7 million.
The $23 million project will be done in one phase, as it was approved Nov. 9, clearing the way for it to be advertised as early as Thursday and documents distributed to prospective bidders on Friday. Construction is expected to start in March.
On the council's agenda was whether to save $315,000 in interest annually, starting in 2018, by cutting the plan, and the associated borrowing, into two phases.
Council members also considered installing a newer technology for removing phosphate at an added cost of $8 million, rather than upgrade the method currently used, in anticipation of meeting more stringent Department of Natural Resources requirements by 2021.
Both new options were presented by Alan Eckstein, the current water utility director.
If done in two phases, the project would, at total completion, save about $2.3 million in upfront costs, Eckstein said
Council also heard from past and present wastewater employees, including Jerry Ellefson, who retired in 2009 after 40 years as the city WWTP superintendent, and Jay Kemp of AECOM. AECOM, a Madison engineering firm, was hired in early 2011 to plan the upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant and authorized in early 2012 to design the facility. All advocated for staying the course on the construction plans, in view of the age and capacity limits of the plant.
Eckstein, however, said the 29-year old plant is receiving good grades, "mostly all As" on its Compliance Maintenance Annual Report, an annual self-evaluation report required by the DNR since 1984.
One area of concern in at least three or four previous annual reports is a grade F in biosolids management, caused mostly by the lack of space to store leftover solid waste. The new upgrades are expected to fix that black mark.
Monroe has a concentration of food industries, including cheese and beer and other "wet" industries, such as ethanol, that are high producers of wastewater. Everyone at the meeting agreed the facility, built in the 1980s to last 10 years, has reached its peak capacity and is due for an upgrade.
"Our plant is really an industrial treatment plant treating a little bit of residential waste," Ellefson said. Delaying the upgrades any longer would have a detrimental effect on any further economic development in industry, commercial and residential building, he added.
The plant is "now operating on a ragged edge," with plant employees working overtime to keep it operational, Ellefson added.
Alderman Brooke Bauman said she was concerned about what pressures the delay is putting on the staff and about the possible impact on future economic development. "That's huge," she said.
But she also looked to the future of the council actions.
When the second phase "comes up in five years, would we find excuses not to do it?" she asked.
Comptroller Bridget Schuchart had hoped for the project to come in two phases. "The less we borrow at one time, the less interest we pay," she said after the council adjourned.
The two phase approach would "allow an opportunity to change at a late date. If the DNR changes (requirements), we're not locked in to the project price," Schuchart said. Under the current project, the city would have to "borrow more or scale back the project," she said.
On Tuesday, the council also approved AECOM to oversee and inspect the construction of the upgrades, at a cost of $1.7 million.