Look of water plant overshadows 35% rate hike

By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM

Ozaukee Press staff

The aesthetics of a proposed addition to the Port Washington water plant, not the expected 35% rate increase needed to pay for the work, drew the most comments Tuesday during a public meeting on improvements to the facility.

Several people questioned the location of the addition, which will take up virtually all the green space on the south side of the plant.

Patti Spencer, 415 N. Lake St., asked if it could be moved to a city-owned parking lot at the corner of Jackson and Lake streets, kitty corner from the plant.

“I want to keep the lakefront open,” Spencer said. “Are you taking out all those trees? Are they all gone?”

Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven noted that the parking lot Spencer referred to is “a little on the small side” to hold the addition, and Brad Weiss, project engineer with Short Elliot Hendrickson Inc., said it’s too expensive to move the facility off site.

“We’re trying to keep the footprint as small as we can,” Tom Nennig, president of City Water, which is working with SEH on the project, added.

But the size of the building is dictated  by the size of the clearwell, he said, and there’s little that can be done to make it smaller.

The addition will also house a new ultraviolet treatment system and a backup generator for the plant, they said.

Tuesday’s meeting was a precursor to the estimated $18.3 million project intended to correct deficiencies at the water plant, replace equipment at the end of its life and increase efficiency.

The Department of Natural Resources has mandated that the city install the generator and make improvements to the clearwell by 2027, Weiss said.

Weiss noted that much of the equipment at the plant is at least 50 years old and some of it more than 70 years old.

“The plant is still producing a very high quality of water, but much of the equipment is old and reliability is becoming an issue,” he said. “It’s really reached the end of its service life.”

Nennig said the improvements to the plant will be paid in large part through an estimated 35% water rate increase phased in over the next two years.

“I don’t have great news. There’s no way to sugar coat it,” he said. “We have to pay for the plant.”

The city is expected to seek a 15% rate increase from the Public Service Commission next year, he said, and a 20% increase in 2024.

The average single-family household in the city currently uses 9,724 gallons of water per two-month billing period, he said, paying $63.75.

The rate increase is expected to boost that bill by $22.31 for those two months, to $86.06.

Port is not alone, he said. Other communities mandated to make improvements to their plants have increased rates significantly, from a 28% increase in Oak Creek’s rates in 2017 to an estimated 49% increase sought for Sheboygan.

Nennig said the building design is expected to be completed by the end of this year and submitted to the DNR for approval.

The project would then be bid during the first half of 2023, with construction slated to start in fall and be completed in 2025.