Colfax lagoon river bank project still in limbo

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX — In December of 2014, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers toured the village’s lagoon site on the Red Cedar River to assess erosion to the river bank.

From the time the Colfax wastewater treatment lagoons were built in the 1960s, the Red Cedar River has been working on carving away the bank between the lagoons and the river, until now, at the closest point, only about a hundred feet separates the two.

Since their tour of the site, the Army Corps of Engineers has been working on designing a project to stabilize the river bank and stop the erosion so the lagoons do not wash out into the river.

Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, reported to the Colfax Village Board at the March 12 meeting that she and Rand Bates, director of public works, have a March 22 meeting scheduled with the village’s engineering firm, CBS Squared, to “get moving” on the river bank project.

The village initially had been asked to sign a letter of commitment stating Colfax would be willing to fund $375,000 of the bank stabilization project, but later on, the amount increased to $650,000, she said.

Gary Stene, village president, said he planned to attend the March 22 meeting to see if there might be a way to make the project “not so spendy.”

Village Trustee Annie Jenson wondered if there were any grants available.

So far, the only money that would be available is low interest rate financing, Niggemann said.

According to representatives for CBS Squared, however, there may now be a new grant available the village could take advantage of, she said.

Dunn County is exploring “in-kind” work for a similar river bank project on County Highway M using county equipment and county employees, said Stene, who is vice chair of the Dunn County Board.

Perhaps the village could do in-kind work on the lagoon project using the village’s equipment and manpower, he said.

“We’ve been talking about this for a few years,” noted Mark Halpin, village trustee.

At the Red Cedar Watershed Conference earlier in March, “people were asking about the Colfax river bank,” Stene said.

In August of 2014, Ron Verdon, president of the Tainter-Menomin Lake Improvement Association, presented an erosion and habitat assessment report to the Colfax Village Board.

TMLIA received a lake planning grant to help pay for the study, which was completed by Inter-fluve, Inc. in conjunction with a variety of partners, including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Dunn County Land Conservation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and UW-Extension.

The study identified more than 60 erosion sites along the Red Cedar River between the Barron County line and Tainter Lake, including the Colfax lagoons.

After Verdon’s presentation, the Colfax Village Board approved a resolution asking the United States Army Corps of Engineers for help in stabilizing the river bank.

During their December of 2014 visit to Colfax, the representatives for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the grant cycle for the Army Corps runs from October 1 to September 30.

While there was no guarantee that the project would receive federal funds, because the river threatens the Colfax wastewater treatment system, stabilizing the river bank is essential, the engineers said.

If Colfax were to receive federal funding through the Army Corps of Engineers, the federal government would pay 65 percent of the cost and Colfax would pay 35 percent, the engineers said during their 2014 visit to Colfax.