The village of Dorchester is ….
The village of Dorchester is moving ahead with plans to upgrade the sewage treatment plant to meet state phosphorus limits. At the April 6 village board meeting, trustees approved a bid from MZ Construction for the project. The work will result in village rate payers paying more on utility bills over the next 20 years.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has imposed rules that limit the amount of phosphorus that can be in wastewater. If a village, town or city exceeds this limit, they are fined a certain amount based on how much they exceeded it. The limit imposed in Dorchester is 8 parts per million (ppm). The goal imposed by the DNR is .2 ppm. The village is able to make this hard limit without any treatment, but this does result in a discharge fee due to not meeting the goal.
Dorchester would have been charged approximately $81,278 by the DNR for this discharge fee.
In 2020, Dorchester started using ferric chloride to treat the water for phosphorus in order to get the amount of phosphorus down. This resulted in a $20,000 chemical expense and a DNR fee of about $40,000. The chemical ferric chloride is bad for the pipes and is very heavy, so the village switched to using Rare Earth in 2021 into 2022, which was more water soluble. It also costs a lot more. In 2021 the chemical expense was around $84,000 with a DNR fee of around $15,000. The Rare Earth chemical worked a lot better than the ferric chloride, to the point of making the phosphorus level meet the goal level that the DNR in more than one month.
The high amount of money spent in 2021 on Rare Earth is partially due to the inefficient way it was added to the water, and partially due to exorbitant pricing. With a proper phosphorus treatment plant, the village would go back to using ferric chloride and would mix the chemical in properly so it does not just sit at the bottom of the pipes and eat through them.
The original planned project for the phosphorus treatment plant was much too expensive and wasn’t even considered by the village board. The new project that was considered uses existing equipment and property of the village. Some things that would be necessary and fairly pricey include safety equipment due to the dangerousness of the chemicals used. The village has virtually no safety equipment for the phosphorus water treatment right now.
The village asked for bids, and only received one from MZ Construction for $264,000, which is over the original budget. With the contractor and with all of the DNR requirements, it would cost around $359,533. The village would receive a loan from the DNR for $148,000 with an interest rate of .99%. The annual payment would be around $8,210 a year for 20 years.
With no general contractor, and the village doing the absolute minimum needed, with no extra financing costs, the project would result in a $122,000 loan with no help from the DNR. With a 3% interest rate, this would have an annual loan payment of $8,200 per year, which is a $10/year difference. The village will still have chemical expenses, as well as DNR assessments, as the DNR will continue lowering the goal amount as areas are meeting them.
The board approved awarding the bid to MZ Construction. The project will be completed before the end of the year.
In other business:
n During the water and sewer update, it was reported that the weather has not been cooperating with the water and sewer system. A main valve got stuck on last week, but it was stuck in the “open” position, so it is not causing a problem as of now.
n The public works department has been filling holes in the streets. They have been working on the generator for the new lift station the village is putting in. They are working on putting snow equipment away in hopes that they do not need it again until next winter.
n The April 5 election went well according to Christie Erickson, village clerk/treasurer.
n Dorchester Days will run the same as last year, except the car show will take place on Saturday instead of Sunday, as well as incorporating a fun run.
n The board accepted the recommendations from the Planning Commission to allow Forward Bank to purchase 20 more feet of land to improve their planned drive through lanes.
n The board approved accepting liability insurance as is through Spectrum Insurance Group for an annual estimated cost of $43,816 per year. They discussed adding a cyber policy but without more detailed information, they could not accept it right now.
n The board gave Public Works Supervisor Clint Penney permission to negotiate the price on and sell the 2006 Dodge Caravan.
n The board approved a Resolution granting the issuance, sale and delivery of a $1,000,000 General Obligation Promissory Note for interim financing for Forward Bank.
During the discussion on approving the lease on Memorial Hall about keeping the building at all based on income that comes from it. It was brought up that the village pays for the gas, electric and water, and they do not get anything back for it. Other board members brought up that Memorial Hall is the same as any other public space, like parks. Any revenue that comes from sales inside of Memorial Hall, such as bowling, goes into a separate bank account that goes toward upkeep and renovations to the building. The board approved the renewal of the lease.
n The village is going to redo 4th Street. There is more money budgeted for this plan than needed, so there was a question on whether to extend the project another block. They will use Gorilla Mix to repave the road, which is the mix used on state highways, so it will be able to withstand heavy equipment on the road. The board approved the final project to go down S. Fourth St. from County Highway A to Fourth Avenue.
