Elk Mound to begin negotiations for new reservoir
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound Village Board has given approval to begin negotiations to acquire property for building a new reservoir.
The village board determined at the May 1 meeting that the committee for the negotiations would include Terry Stamm, village president; Cynthia Abraham, village trustee and chair of the property and finance committee; Mark Levra, director of public works; and Bernard Lenz, senior project manager with CBS Squared.
The reservoir would be part of a $2.6 million project that would include new loops in the water system to increase water pressure and maximize fire fighting capabilities for the school district’s buildings and the Settlers Ridge development as well as for other residents in the village.
In 2020, Elk Mound’s population was 897, and when the Settlers Ridge development is completed, the village’s population is expected to be 2,337, Lenz said.
According to statistics Lenz provided for the village board, in 1990 the village’s population was 749.
The second reservoir will help to give better coverage. The existing reservoir is 55 years old, Stamm said.
The ISO flow rate needed for Mound View Elementary is 3,500, but the current flow rate is 855, Lenz said.
The middle school’s ISO flow rate needed is 3,000, and the current flow rate is 1,900, he said.
Garland Street’s ISO flow rate needed is 2,250, and currently it is 1,750, while Division Street’s needed flow rate is 750, and the current rate is 850, he said.
Holly Avenue has a needed flow rate of 2,500, and the current flow rate is 2,000, and Mound View Drive’s flow rate needed is 500, but it is currently 1,500, while West Menomonie Street’s needed flow rate is 1,500 and the current rate is 1,575, Lenz said.
As for the well capacity in gallons per minute, Well No. 1 is 175 gpm and Well No. 2 is 380 gpm, for a combined gpm of 555, he said.
The ISO fire flow needed is 2,500 gallons per minute for two hours and 3,500 gpm for three hours, Lenz said.
Reservoir
If the storage capacity of the reservoir is too high, then the water becomes too old and stale, Lenz said.
To offset the new demands, a 100,000 gallon tank would be needed, he said.
The best location for a new reservoir is above the school, and for the school loop and the east loop, the ridge would be helpful, Lenz said.
An additional reservoir “does wonders” for the resiliency of the water utility, and adding an additional loop means removing two of the three dead ends, he said,.
There was already a deficiency without the new growth, Stamm said.
The project would be completed in phases. Phase I would be the new reservoir at a cost of $1 million; Phase 2 would be completion of the school loop at a cost of $415,000; Phase 3 would be the completion of the east loop at a cost of $685,000, Stamm said.
All three phases together would be $2.1 million with a $400,000 contingency, and the land acquisition costs for the new reservoir, he said.
Loan
A Safe Drinking Water Fund Loan would have the possibility of 40 to 50 percent principal forgiveness, Lenz said.
The percentage of principal forgiveness depends on how Elk Mound is ranked, he said.
What about the cost of the land and the easement? Stamm asked.
That all becomes part of the asset value, Lenz said.
The cost of $2.5 million plus $100,000 for the land and easement are preliminary numbers, said Josh Low of Ehlers and Associates, the village’s financial consultant.
If the principal forgiveness is 25 percent for the Safe Drinking Water Fund loan (or $650,000), then the debt service annual payment would be $126,000 and would require a utility rate adjustment of an 85 percent increase, he said.
If the principal forgiveness is $1 million, the debt service payment would be $103,000, and a rate increase of 72 percent would be needed, Low said.
If the principal forgiveness is $1.5 million, then the annual debt service payment would be $73,000, and a rate increase of 54 percent would be needed, he said.
Right now in Dunn County, Elk Mound is “in the middle of the pack” for water rates, Low said.
Under the worst case scenario with 25 percent loan forgiveness, Elk Mound would be number four in Dunn County; if the principal forgiveness was $1.5 million, Elk Mound would be number six in Dunn County, he said.
There are seven villages in Dunn County and one city.
Scaled back
If the project was scaled back from $2.6 million to $1.5 million, what would the debt service and utility rate look like? Stamm asked.
Everything would shift down, Low said.
The best way to look at it is consider the potential high and the potential low and think in a range, he said.
When the actual numbers are available, the effect on the water rates can be figured out, Stamm said.
The principal forgiveness on a Safe Drinking Water Fund Loan is capped at $1.5 million, Lenz noted.
The actual construction would be next year if the surveying can be done this fall, he said.
The village should acquire the land for the reservoir now so the survey can proceed, Lenz said.
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved the motion to move forward with the land acquisition for the reservoir with the suggested negotiations committee.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Tabled until the next meeting the review of village structure, ordinances and policies and format of the citizen’s forum form. Village board members can think about what they would like to see changed in the meantime, Stamm said.
• Approved the Village of Elk Mound Consumer Confidence report. There are no deficiencies in the drinking water, and the report must be posted publicly, Levra said, noting that board approval is required.
• Approved the 2023-2024 committee assignments.
• Approved waiving the sign permit fee for the Elk Mound Lions Club to install Village Park ball field name signs.
• Accepted the donation of welcome signs on county Highway H on the south and north sides of H by the Elk Mound Lions Club.
• Approved Resolution No. 23-4 authorizing the issuance and delivery of an allonge (transfer document) for the Health Care Facilities Revenue bond, series 2015A for the Grace Lutheran Foundation, Inc. project, a long-term care facility in Altoona. Elk Mound is the “middle man” for the loan, said Karin Wolf, village clerk-treasurer.
• Approved the memorandum of understanding between the Elk Mound Police Department and the Elk Mound school district for the COPS hiring program for a school resource officer. The Elk Mound Board of Education has already approved the MOU.
• Approved the commitment of financial capability to pay the non-federal share of the project costs for the U.S. Department of Justice’s fiscal year 2023 COPS hiring program grant, which would be used for a school resource officer. The village can turn down the grant, said Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger.
• Declined the offer of a land donation from the Ausman Estate to the village. The land in question is an outlot that is not quite an acre.
Following a closed session, the Elk Mound Village Board approved ending the temporary light duty work assignment for Police Chief Weinberger.