Board OKs 25% Fredonia sewer rate hike

The Fredonia Village Board last week unanimously approved a 24.77% sewer rate increase to take effect next year that will help pay for a multi-million dollar upgrade to the municipality’s wastewater treatment plant.

The project is slated to cost $8.2 million, according to an estimate by Madison-based engineering firm Strand Associates. Many upgrades replace much of the 40-year-old equipment at the plant. The typical lifespan of those items is around half that long.

Work is broken down by need. The top priority is to convert the primary clarifier and biotower into an aerobic digester for $2 million. The biotower filter is leaking and not pumping at full force, and the structure is faulty, according to the priority list. The primary clarifier is working but not efficiently.

Removing and installing a new chemical phosphorus building would cost $1.5 million. The toxic chemical feric chloride has caused the building to deteriorate and caused it to be unsafe for employees.

Adding a third clarifier and a highly efficient, nonclogging pump would cost $2.3 million. The plant has two pumps that are frequently used. A third would be able to handle daily fluctuations.

Replacing the mechanical screen, bringing the building to code, replacing the roof and creating a breakroom would cost $1.6 million. The screen has reached its 20-year lifespan and a new one could catch more soil and debris moving through the system, reducing clogs or failures.

Other upgrades, including adding an outside generator, office and bathroom and a fire hydrant, doing mill work and overlay on the entrance road and making final clarifier improvements total about $1.3 million.

The sewer rate increase is on top of a 23% increase approved in spring with a third increase planned next year, but officials said last week that the third hike may not be required or at least not be that high.

The latest increase will put the village in position to apply for a Clean Water Fund loan that would provide a low interest rate and take 10% off the estimated $6.2 million loan, bringing the loan to $5.6 million.

“That’s still a big deal. That’s $600,000 that we don’t have to pay,” Village Administrator Christophe Jenkins said.

While the project will cost more than $8 million, the village’s borrowing tolerance, Jenkins said, is around $6.2 million.

The rate increase, he said, could help the village pay for some of the upgrades without borrowing, thus lowering the cost of the project.

The bill for a property’s 5/8-inch sewer meter is slated to increase from $100.32 to $123.50.

“Even after an increase, we will still be paying lower than most of the communities around us in Ozaukee County,” Village President Peter Lenz said.

The wastewater facilities plan needs to be submitted to the state Department of Natural Resources. A public hearing must be held on the plan that includes a 30-day public comment period.

Once started, the work is expected to take two years to complete.