By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — City officials will hold public hearings to discuss a sewer rate increase amid preparations for an estimated $80 million upgrade to the city’s Wastewater Treatment Facility.
The upgrade will result in a rate hike of about $144 for most residential customers in 2019, with additional “step” upgrades to follow. The facility currently serves Wausau, Schofield and the industrial park in the village of Weston.
The first increase is expected to take effect Jan. 1, officials said. Residential users are projected to see a flat meter charge increase of about 20 percent, from $17 to $20.40 per quarter combined with a usage charge that will increase by about 22 percent per quarter, from $49.12 to $58.94.
Calculated increases for non-residential users have not been communicated and the amount of the subsequent proposed annual increases is not yet clear.
Wausau Waterworks is proposing borrowing the funds using the Clean Water Fund Program, a federally subsidized loan program. The program is a federal-state partnership that provides communities a permanent, independent source of low-cost financing for a wide range of water quality infrastructure projects.
Wausau aims to borrow funds in 2020 for the project to will allow the current facility to meet new, stricter phosphorous and capacity requirements while improving safety, reliability and performance.
The city has contracted with Sheboygan-based Donohue and Associates for preliminary design services, which is expected to cost $1,113,875. The upgrades are meant to enhance safety, reliability and performance for the facility, which was constructed in three phases beginning in 1939. Wastewater treatment facilities that discharge to Wisconsin water bodies, such as Wausau’s, are regulated by the Department of Natural Resources through the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. Wausau’s current permit, required because of discharge to the Wisconsin River, expired on Dec. 30, 2015, according to city documents. The next permit will include a low-level phosphorous limit that the current facility is not equipped to comply with.
A pubic hearing on the sewer rate increase will be held at 5 p.m. Oct. 17 in Council Chambers at City Hall, 407 Grant St., Wausau. Comments on the proposed increase can be offered through spoken testimony or through written comment. Mail comments to Wausau City Hall, Sewer Rate Hearing – Engineering, 407 Grant St., Wausau WI 54403.
Emailed comments are accepted online and should include the “Sewer Rate Increase” in the subject line.
The hearing will also be televised on public access.
All public comments will be presented to the Wausau Waterworks Commission during their regular meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 6.
Wausau first retained Donohue and local partner Becher Hoppe in April 2017 to perform facility planning and develop a 20-year plan to address safety, capacity and regulatory compliance concerns. Together, the two companies completed a comprehensive evaluation of more than 90 alternatives to address Wausau’s needs before narrowing the alternatives down to five.
The final recommended plan aims to include potential that will expand the service area over the next 20 years that could include services for the villages of Brokaw, Maine and Marathon City.
The overall plan includes building three new structures, modifying several others, replacing aging equipment and replacing the electrical service and emergency power system, according to Donohue’s proposal.
Donohue will serve as lead design consultant while Becher Hoppe and Samuels Group are named as design subconsultants for the project.
