Got texts?

The city of Medford is looking to make it easier for residents to get their questions answered.

At Monday’s city council committee of the whole meeting, members recommended contracting with TextMyGov, a software company based in Logan, Utah to provide text-based information services to the city.

Under the system, residents with general questions about things like if the pool is open, or how to rent a shelter could text the number and receive an automated message back. It was noted that the city currently uses the Remind application which residents can sign up for to get alerts about pool closing due to weather or other issues. However, as city coordinator Joe Harris noted, the Remind app has a limit on the number of people who can be signed up and that the city maxes out on this every year, requiring a new account to be set up each year.

In addition, the city would be able to manually push out messages to the cellphones of residents in areas of the city. City clerk Ashley Lemke said this would be used if there was, for example, a power outage in an area to alert the residents and let them know the issue was being worked on. The city could also use the system when alerting overdue utility customers about shut-off notices.

Currently, the city prints off door hangers which are hand delivered to the homes of delinquent utility customers. Lemke noted this can take a sizable amount of time for the city lineman to deliver, especially in the spring when the moratorium comes off for disconnects.

See CITY on page 4 Public Service Commission rules require notifications before service is shut off. The TextMyGov program is used by other municipal electric utilities including Spooner and Marshfield for this purpose.

Harris noted that manually pushing out the numbers bypasses any unsubscribe or blocking done to make sure that the messages would go through to delinquent customer account holders. For those without cellphones on their accounts, the city would continue to use paper notices.

The set up cost for the program is $6,300 for the first year and $4,200 per year after. The initial contract is for three years.

Harris also noted that the program has the ability to receive text messages, such as a resident reporting a pothole or other concern. This would generate an email which would be sent to the appropriate city official to be addressed.

Regional Sanitary Sewer

The city council gave its blessing to Harris and Superintendent Al Zenner from the wastewater treatment utility to continue talks with the village of Stetsonville over the possibility of the village pumping sewage waste to the city to be treated rather than maintaining its own plant.

Zenner told council members that the village is going through its re-permitting process with the state and that they could be looking at needing to make some major improvements to meet state requirements. He noted there is also a major push, and grant money available, to regionalize services. Currently Owen and Withee wastewater is treated at the same plant with Owen pumping waste 5 miles to the treatment plant. Green Bay’s plant also serves several neighboring communities.

Zenner said that if it was to take place, it would likely be a six-inch force main with large pumps that would push the waste the five miles from Stetsonville to where it would connect to Medford’s utility.

Board member Dave Brandner asked if people along the route would have the option of connecting to the main. Zenner said this would be a challenge since it it would be a pressurized force main so anyone connecting would have to have a pressure higher than that of the main in order for it to flow.

The average daily flow for Stetsonville is about 70,000 gallons with about 35 pounds of BODs (Biological oxygen demand - a measure of the concentration of the waste).

The Medford Wastewater Treatment plant is designed to handle 1.94 million gallons per day and 4,530 pounds of BODs. Due to various upgrades to the city’s system over the years, the city’s average flow in 2023 was 703,000 gallons per day with the highest month for BOD loading at 2,700 gallons per day.

Adding Stetsonville would be at less than 1% of the city’s BOD capacity per day and 3.5% of the city’s flow capacity. This would have a negligible impact on plant operations.

Zenner cautioned that they are just in the talking phase at this point and that any regionalization would be potentially years away. He said they just wanted to come to the city now, to make them aware of the conversation being had and to determine if there would be opposition from the council to the idea.

Zenner noted that it is a viable option given the availability of grant funding for it, but he said the DNR will only fund the most cost effective option.

“There is no right or wrong, it is community dependent,” Zenner said of whatever decision is ultimately reached.

“This will take years,” Harris said, noting that it could be 2027 before any construction begins.

In other business, committee members:

• Recommend approving a $0.27 per month increase in the amount billed for solid waste and recycling customers. This reflects increases in the city’s contract with Advanced Disposal.

• Recommended approving a class B liquor license for LaChapinita Guatemalan Restaurant located at 149 S. Main St. The city had an open license after a restaurant location on Hwy 13 did not renew theirs.

• Recommended approving the contract with Ayres Associates for the upcoming capital improvement projects for 2025 at a cost of $144,100. The engineering would be for the full reconstruction on Musky Court from the intersection with Musky Lane to terminate 500 feet South. This will include new sanitary sewer, water, storm sewer, curb and gutter and new asphalt. In addition, the city is planning to extend sanitary sewer line 910 feet for the Johnson property located on Peps Drive. The city will have Ayres complete the permitting for Well No. 14 to submit to the PSC for approval to continue with developing the new well. The city will also hire Ayres to design watermain replacement on Broadway Ave from the intersection with Hwy 13 to South Ninth St., approximately 670 feet of new 12” water main.