Wheeler Village Board approves Compliance Maintenance Annual Report with a grade of “B”
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
WHEELER — The Wheeler Village Board has approved the Compliance Maintenance Annual Report for the wastewater treatment facility, which received an overall grade of “B.”
There are several sections with low scores, said Rand Bates, director of public works, at the Wheeler Village Board’s June 5 meeting.
Two sections of the report have a grade of “C,” and one section earned a grade of “D.”
The section on effluent quality (gallons of water flowing out of the wastewater treatment facility) and plant performance based on Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), which is an indicator of organic pollution in the water, received a grade of “D.”
The effluent is tested every week, and by the time the results come back from the lab, the month is gone, Bates said.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wants to know how Wheeler is going to fix the high BOD levels. Decreasing the BOD levels requires some kind of response and talking with representatives of the DNR, he said.
Bates also serves as the director of public works in Colfax and recently told the Colfax Village Board that the DNR has not inspected the Colfax facility since 2013.
The DNR has had so much turnover in personnel and is so short-staffed at times that the agency is experiencing difficulty monitoring and assisting municipalities with their wastewater treatment systems, he told the Colfax Village Board.
Lagoons
The section on pond and lagoon leakage received a grade of C on the report with a percentage of volume loss of 51.2 percent, which is the percentage of influent lost and not discharged with the effluent.
Last summer was dry, and there are either leaks in the lagoon system or some of the loss was from evaporation, Bates said.
Certification
The section on operator certification and education also received a grade of C.
Bates said he completed all of the requirements to renew his license, and that the work was completed last year and was completed before it was due, but somehow, the state has not yet posted the license renewal.
In one part of the report, Bates points out, “The engineer for the village is in the process of submitting applications for financial help for all new equipment in the wet well and lift station and also a new building at the lagoons for new blowers and chemical storage. Also for installing new equipment in the pit that discharges to the river.”
The cost of replacing equipment is estimated at $2.5 million, and the approximate construction year is 2025.
The other sections of the report received grades of A: influent flow and loading; effluent quality and plant performance (total suspended solids); biosolids and management; staffing and preventative maintenance; financial management; and the sanitary sewer collection system.
The grade point average for the Wheeler wastewater treatment facility is 2.72 on the CMAR.
An overall grade of “B” is in the voluntary range with response from the Village of Wheeler as “optional.”
An overall grade of C would mean that a response is required.
An overall grade of D or F is in the “action range” and a response is required.
Other public works
Bates also reported that he had sprayed the ball fields for weeds and that he had rolled the ball fields.
In addition, he is in the process of jetting the sewer mains and noted that the hydrants will need to be flushed as well.
The village also will have to rent an excavator to remove the stumps of the trees where the new well will be located, Bates said.
ATVs
Eldora Deraad, a member of the Wheeler Snowdrifters Snowmobile and ATV Club and the Dunn County ATV/UTV Association, spoke to the Wheeler Village Board about the ATV/UTV route and trail in the area where the village’s new well will be installed.
The ATVs/UTVs could come off the road to the driveway that will go to the well and then on to the trail, Bates said.
The driveway to the well could be constructed to be wider, with an off ramp and a longer culvert, he said.
Deraad asked if there was another road the ATVs/UTVs could use in Wheeler so people “could still get gas and hamburgers.”
Bates pointed out there would be no way to avoid state Highway 25 without coming through by the new wellhouse.
State law allows ATVs/UTVs to only cross state highways at a 90-degree angle but not travel along state highways.
Deraad asked how much traffic would use the road to the wellhouse.
Bates said he would be using the wellhouse driveway one time per day.
Rob Hakanson, village president, directed Bates to work with the engineer on designing a wider driveway to the wellhouse.
