Concerns expressed about Dorchester treatment plant
After a lengthy discussion spanning a few months, the Dorchester Village Board voted to approve the final payment for work done on limiting phosphorous at the wastewater treatment plant.
The work was completed by MZ Construction after initial concerns from public works employee Rick Golz were adressed. The final payment of $13,598.74 was approved unanimously by the council after previously withholding payments because the council felt as if the work hadn’t been properly completed.
At the November 30 and December 7 meetings, Golz said he had problems with an eyewash station and the phosphorus limitation measures that were installed as part of the project. Golz described a couple of other issues with the completion of the project and board members said they would be willing to withhold money from the pay request to ensure the issues got fixed.
At the board’s November 30 meeting, Cooper Engineering asked the board to extend the time allowed for engineers to follow up with public works employees. The follow-up period was extended to 30 months to help iron out any bugs in the construction and new phosphorous limitation strategies that are in place.
Cooper Engineering requested at the board’s December 7 meeting that the variance in phosphorous levels will take time to figure out and that is normal for that particular system. At that time, Golz estimated that 90 percent of the electronics were functioning in the plant. He said it could take up to a year to notice if the phosphorous limitation strategies are working.
“It’s too early to tell [if it’s working],” Golz said at the December 7 meeting.
Trustee Eric Klemetson said the board is still confused about what is actually still needing to be done with the plant and said additional explanations would have been beneficial.
“We have a lot of questions. It would have been real helpful to have a representative that is working on this stuff come and explain it to us and just explain what the bugs are and how they’re working out,” Klemetson said. “Then we can talk to the people that are building it.”
Lift station
The new lift station has been installed at the corner of Liberty Street and County Road A. Last fall, board members noticed the building was built crooked in relation to the road and asked if that could be fixed. Balsavich stated the building was designed to be lined up with the road and was not built according to that plan. Since then, the building has been rotated to match up with the road.
At the November 30 meeting, Balsavich said Cooper Engineering will be discussing a time extension with Steen Construction for the project. According to Balsavich, Steen asked to start the project later than originally scheduled and now, the project will likely not be completed until spring. Public Works Director Clint Penney asked if the village would be able to retain some money or get some sort of repayment because of the delay in the completion in the project.
Balsavich said Cooper Engineering would be having a conversation with Steen and present a proposal at a future meeting.
Other business
n Board president Kurt Schwoch along with trustees Clarence Klimpke, Klemetson and Keith Lageman are all up for re-election this spring. The four candidates all notified the board of their intent to re-run for their positions.
n A resident attended the public comments portion of the meeting and had a complaint about the sidewalks not being properly shoveled. Schwoch said in past years, the village had been plowing the sidewalks but this year, the village decided it would be up to homeowners to shovel their own sidewalks.
The resident asked that the ordinance stating that residents must plow their own sidewalks be enforced. Deputy Village Clerk Christie Erikson said the next newsletter that will be sent out with the water bills will have a reminder to residents that the village is not clearing out sidewalks this year and that responsibility lies with the property owners.
