Red Cedar River bank project nearing completion
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — After a delay of several years and a price increase of $1 million, the project to stabilize the streambank so the Red Cedar River does not wash out Colfax’s wastewater treatment lagoons is nearly finished.
“They’re coming along, and it’s almost done,” said Rand Bates, director of public works, at the Colfax Village Board’s October 10 meeting.
The barrier has been pulled out of the river, and mostly all that’s left is to do the hydro-seeding, he said.
The river bank has ended up with a nice gradual slope down to the outlet pipe, Bates said.
The initial estimate to stabilize the river bank was $1.6 million, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers paying 65 percent of the cost and the village paying 35 percent of the cost.
In 2019, Colfax was awarded $592,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to cover the village’s 35 percent of the project.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved accepting the CDBG funds of $592,000 in August of 2019.
The money from the Army Corps of Engineers is considered to be matching funds, so with the award of the $592,000 as CDBG funds, the only cost to the village for the $1.6 million project was expected to be $35,000 to $40,000 to CBS Squared for the grant application, grant administration and project oversight.
But instead of the bids for for rip-rap, slope excavation, restoration seeding and an access road coming in at the initially-estimated $1.6 million, the bids came in at around $2.6 million, the Colfax Village Board learned in February of this year.
The Colfax Village Board subsequently approved a resolution establishing that the village would borrow $600,000 to pay the additional cost of the Red Cedar River Bank stabilization project.
The Colfax Village Board also approved a resolution authorizing the administrator-clerk-treasurer or the village president to act as the representative for the Village of Colfax to file the application and any other necessary paperwork for financial assistance from the Wisconsin Environmental Improvement Fund.
Payments on a Clean Water Fund loan would be covered by the village’s sewer and water utility and would not come out of the property tax levy.
The Clean Water Fund has a grant fund available for “principal forgiveness” of a loan. The village will not know until 2023 whether the loan will be forgiven or whether it will be low interest loan, according to Jon Strand of CBS Squared, who spoke to the village board about a Clean Water Fund loan in January of this year.
$750,000
The Colfax Village Board approved a resolution in June of this year to borrow $750,000 for the project to stabilize the Red Cedar River bank to replace the original resolution for borrowing $600,000.
CBS Squared recommended $750,000 so the village does not have to “start over” to apply for Clean Water Fund money if there happened to be any change orders for the river bank project.
If Colfax is denied Clean Water Fund money this time around, the village can apply for the money again in four years.
The deadline for closing out the project to install rip-rap to keep the Red Cedar River from washing out the wastewater treatment lagoons was extended from December 31, 2021, to December 31, 2022.
The Colfax Village Board approved the agreement extending the deadline between the Wisconsin Department of Administration and the Village of Colfax in July of 2021.
Over the last several decades, the Red Cedar River has steadily eroded the river bank and has come much closer to the wastewater lagoons. Estimates are that perhaps one hundred to two hundred feet of river bank have disappeared.
Although the Army Corp of Engineers came to Colfax to view the erosion problem in December of 2014 and wrote the report in 2016, the village noticed a problem with the river bank eroding away near the lagoons long before that.
In August of 2010, a thunderstorm that dumped up to eight inches of rain around the area in a couple of hours caused the bank to erode even more from stormwater run-off.
The wastewater treatment lagoons were built in 1982.
Citations
The Colfax Village Board has approved giving Brian Longdo, 503 E. Third Street, until December 15 to put up a fence around his property or to clean up the property.
If the work is not completed, the citations filed in Dunn County Circuit Court, which have a court date of December 21, will proceed.
Longdo told the village board that he is scheduled to talk to the village’s attorney about the citations on October 18.
Over the years, Longdo said, he has collected rototillers, snowblowers and lawn mowers on his property through the course of his work as a repair business.
Because the property is zoned commercial, Longdo said he anticipated that he could have anything on the lot associated with his business.
The lot also has two snowplow trucks, a 1997 Blazer for smaller snowplow jobs and a three-quarter ton pickup truck for larger snowplowing jobs, he said, adding that another Blazer is there as “backup.”
Colfax Police Chief William Anderson asked if the 1990 Blazer is registered and running, and Longdo said that it is not registered.
Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, asked what Longdo wanted from the village board.
Longdo noted that he had been hospitalized for three days after contracting COVID-19 and that he has been experiencing difficulty physically in getting things done.
“I do want to clean it up,” he said.
Police Chief Anderson said if a fence were put up all around the property Longdo could have “whatever he wanted.”
Longdo said he was asking the village board to give him more time to get his property cleaned up.
If there is significant improvement in the property, the citations can “go away” by the December court date, Police Chief Anderson said.
If there is not a significant improvement, the citations will stay, he said.
The intent of the village’s ordinances is to allow commercial businesses to operate but not to create a “graveyard,” said Jeff Prince, village trustee.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved a motion to give Longdo until December 15 to build a fence or to clean up the property.
609 Pine Street
The Colfax Village Board also approved a motion authorizing Niggemann to inform the owner of 609 Pine Street, David Felland, that he must hire a rolloff company and clean up his yard by the deadline in the notice he has received.
As of the October 10 board meeting, Felland had a little more than three weeks until the deadline.
If the property is not cleaned up by the deadline, the village will clean up the yard and will invoice Felland for the work.
If the invoice is not paid, the amount will be assessed on Felland’s property taxes.
Niggemann said when she started working for the village at end of 2014, there were already safety concerns about the property at 609 Pine Street.
Several people have volunteered to help Felland, and while a certain amount of trash has been taken to the solid waste and recycling collection site, there is still more material to remove, particularly from the garage that has collapsed, Niggemann said, adding that there are also boards from the roof of the house and from the roof of the garage.
Forty black garbage bags were gone as of Saturday, she said.
“Why are we helping him and not Brian?” asked Jen Rud, village trustee.
David Felland is 95 years old, is legally blind and is hard of hearing, Niggemann said.
“We can get it cleaned up, but should we be involved?” Bates asked.
If village employees use the Skid Steer and the end loader to clean up the yard, will the village then be responsible for reseeding the lawn? he asked.
Cleaning up the property at 609 Pine Street would be similar to the village mowing a lawn that has not been mowed, said Anne Jenson, village trustee.
The Colfax Village Board approved a motion to proceed with the ordinance deadline to get the property cleaned up, and if it is not cleaned up, the village will clean it up and will invoice the property owner on a vote of five “yes” to one “no.”
Village Trustee Carey Davis voted against the motion.
Village Trustee Gary Stene was absent from the meeting.
Anonymous
During the October 10 meeting, the Colfax Village Board also approved a driveway permit on Dunn Street for an applicant who wanted to remain anonymous.
The applicant was not anonymous on the driveway permit application, but Niggemann did not provide any information to the Colfax Messenger because the purchaser of the property “did not want her name in the newspaper” and “did not want anyone to know where she is living.”
The driveway permit is for a currently vacant two-acre lot on Dunn Street.
There is no sewer and water to the property, but the lot is large enough that the property owner could install a private septic system, if the village approves it.
Should the plans for the lot go to the plan commission? Davis asked.
The plans for the lot probably should go to the plan commission, Niggemann said.
The lot was rezoned for multi-family residential, but the property owner will probably want agricultural zoning so she can have a horse on the property, she said.
Several village board members questioned the idea of keeping a horse on a lot in the village.
Agricultural zoning would allow the horse, Niggemann said.
Jenson said that she and other people she knows would like to have goats, so maybe those wanting goats should apply for a rezone to agricultural.
Colfax has a large village boundary that does include agricultural land and places where animals have been kept.
If the property owner were to apply for a rezone to agricultural, there would have to be a public hearing on the rezone request, and neighbors and other village residents would be able to give testimony about rezoning a residential lot to agricultural, Niggemann said.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved the driveway permit.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Village Board:
• Approved a chicken license for Mikki McCutcheon at 406 Main Street from October 10 to June 30, 2023.
• Approved a bartender operator’s license for Kaylee Lemler (Viking Bowl) from October 10 to June 30, 2023.
• Approved a pay request for Skid Steer Guy LLC in the amount of $25,890 for a change order.
• Approved a design proposal from Ayres Associates for the Cedar Street project that includes services from Ayres Associates for a topographic survey at $3,400; design and bidding of the project at $29,300; and for work during the construction phase at $26,500. The money will come from the street fund balance for costs that are incurred during 2022, Niggemann said.
• Approved a property tax collection agreement with Dunn County for 2022-2023 at a cost of $2.35 per parcel. The cost per parcel is the same as last year.
• Approved a contract with the Dunn County Humane Society for 2023 at a per capita cost of $2.04, which represents an increase of five cents per person, for a total of $2,254.20.
