Stormwater retention pond creates issues for village and Boyceville fire district
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — Just when it would have been reasonable to conclude the construction of the Boyceville fire department’s new fire station would be smooth sailing from here on out — along comes the issue of a stormwater retention pond.
Cory Green, Boyceville fire chief, reported at a meeting of the Boyceville Community Fire District Board June 12 that Shefchik Builders is “on track” with the construction of the fire station.
The footings are in, and they will be working on the foundation next, he said.
At a bid opening March 6, Shefchik Builders, Inc. out of Menomonie emerged as the low bidder with a base bid of $1,612,456 to build a new fire station in Boyceville directly south of the airport and east of the Synergy Cooperative convenience store and gas station on state Highway 79.
Along with building a new fire station, the Village of Boyceville is picking up the cost of constructing Charlotte Street past the fire station and behind Synergy at a cost of about $400,000.
The stormwater retention pond carries a price tag of $42,000, said Gilbert Krueger, Boyceville Village President and chair of the fire board.
Before Krueger could say much more about the retention pond, Green pointed out that the retention pond was not on the agenda for the meeting, “so why discuss it?”
Initially it had been determined the new fire station would have its own stormwater retention pond, and the drainage from Charlotte Street would go to another stormwater retention pond.
Stormwater retention ponds are necessary when there is a certain amount of impervious surface being constructed, such as building roofs, parking lots and streets, that have the potential to create a substantial run-off impact during rainstorms.
Half of the cost of the stormwater retention pond — $21,000 — is not in the bid for the fire station, Krueger said.
The fire station site was redesigned, and all the water will be coming off Charlotte Street. The village accepted the bid from Haas Sons Inc. with the retention pond in the bid, Green said.
There is no pond on site for the firehall? asked Bob Anderson, chair of the Town of Stanton.
All of the water would go onto Charlotte Street, Green reiterated.
Design
Erik Evenson, a senior engineer with MSA Professional Services, also attended the fire board meeting.
Who will be paying for Evenson’s time at the meeting? Green asked.
“No one will be getting a bill,” Evenson said, adding that he attended the meeting to help clarify the situation.
The fire station site initially was designed with a small retention pond which would drain to a swale that would go to the airport’s stormwater retention pond, which would be expanded to accommodate the stormwater from Charlotte Street, Evenson said.
As engineers started planning and took a closer look at the airport pond, it was discovered the airport stormwater retention pond cannot be expanded to hold more water, and another pond would have to be constructed next to the airport’s stormwater retention pond, he said.
The state Department of Natural Resources did not want a third pond so close to the others, so the idea was to combine two stormwater retention ponds for one project, Evenson said.
The fire department’s stormwater pond would be 12,300 cubic feet, but the combined ponds would be 15,300 cubic feet, he said.
Instead of two 12,300 cubic-foot retention ponds, one pond for 15,300 would work for both the fire station and Charlotte Street, Evenson said.
Efficiencies were gained by having a longer swale and combining the two ponds, he said.
The idea was to split the cost of the single retention pond to accommodate the new fire station and Charlotte Street and bid the pond with the Charlotte Street project, Evenson said.
“I was not involved in any agreements. I was only involved with the design,” he said.
One retention pond instead of two “saved money, made sense, and the DNR was in favor of it,” Evenson said.
Half
The fire district should be liable for part of the cost of the stormwater retention pond because the water from the new fire station has to go somewhere, Krueger said.
“I thought there was X number of dollars in the bid for the pond at the fire station,” he said.
“It’s not in the plan,” Green said.
This is not the first fire station Five Bugles Design has built, and “they should have known they had to do something with the water,” Krueger said.
The townships did not know about the design of one stormwater retention pond for the fire station and Charlotte Street, Anderson said.
The fire district pays for the fire station site, and the village pays for Charlotte Street, he said.
Krueger asked the fire board members in attendance if they thought it was fair for the village to pay for the entire cost of the stormwater retention pond.
“I did not hear anything about it until now,” said Paul Heifner, representative for the Town of Sherman.
Was the larger pond part of the Charlotte Street bid documents for which Haas submitted a bid? Anderson asked.
“Yes,” Evenson said.
Anderson said he was not prepared to ask the Stanton Town Board and township residents for more money to build the fire station.
“It’s not fair for Boyceville to pick up [the entire cost],” Krueger said.
The cost is for one 15,000 cubic foot pond instead of two 12,000 cubic-foot ponds, he said.
Two ponds would have cost roughly twice as much as the one larger pond, Krueger said.
“I don’t know if I can ask for more money, either,” Heifner said.
Agenda
Anderson suggested the issue be put on the agenda for the next Boyceville fire district meeting July 10.
The Boyceville ambulance district also will meet July 10, and the fire district meeting will be at 7 p.m. or immediately following the ambulance district meeting at 6:30 p.m.
“This is setting up to be the townships vs. the village,” Anderson said.
“We’re not looking for a fight,” Krueger said.
“What if you send us a bill, and we don’t pay?” Anderson said.
“It’s not to that point yet,” Krueger replied.
