Medford wastewater aeration system to get overhaul

The Medford Common Council Committee of the Whole voted to approve the low bid of $2,122,645.00 for the city’s aeration system upgrades project. The bid was submitted by August Winter and Sons, Inc. out of Appleton and was over $500,000 cheaper than the bid submitted by Staab Construction Corporation.

City wastewater employee Alex Zenner said August Winter and Sons is a reputable company but they have never worked at Medford’s wastewater treatment plant before.

“I’ve worked with them [before] and they do a lot of work for Nestle and are a decent contractor,” he said.

The engineer’s estimate for the project was $2.3 million so City Coordinator Joe Harris said it was a good sign to see the bid come in under the estimate.

“A lot of projects now are bidding 30% over engineer’s estimate. So, it’s actually pretty decent,” Zenner said.

The bid will need to be accepted by the common council at next week’s meeting.

Shortly after the bid was sent to council, the committee voted to apply for funding for the aerator project using Wisconsin DNR funding. The city would be applying for the Clean Water Fund Loan Program. Zenner mentioned he thought Medford would be eligible for at least 50% forgiveness on the loan. That proposal was also sent to the council.

In other business:

  Subcommittee chairs were appointed as Dave Brandner (Finance and Personnel), Clem Johnson (Public Safety), Ken Coyer (Public Utilities) and Laura Holmes (Public Works) were all chosen to chair their respective committees.

  The committee approved the Farmer’s Market to host events at a cityowned parking lot on Whelen Avenue for the coming summer. The events would be held on Tuesdays beginning in May and ending mid-October from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

With construction planned in the area, the market will operate out of this parking lot until construction commences. At that time, the market will find a temporary place to set up until the construction is over.

“The way the bids are going to come in and with construction, they could be there until the Fourth of July, easy,” Harris said.

  Six new building permits were issued throughout the month of March by inspector Robert Christensen. One of them included a larger project at Nestlé which had a permit cost of $3,385.

  The committee approved an update to the city’s wastewater SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) program. The update will keep the system current with the upgrades that are taking place to the blower and monitoring systems of the plant.

The upgrades will cost less than $119,940.00 with wastewater covering $86,375.00 of the cost and the water department covering the rest. The contract would be through Energenecs in Saukville. The proposal was recommended to the council.

  The committee recommended an ordinance that requires those within city limits seeking a permit to use a well system to have a licensed well driller inspect their well every 10 years. The ordinance would be required in the future in order to be compliant with Wisconsin state law.

“If we don’t do this, we’re out of compliance with [the State of Wisconsin],” Harris said.

Harris clarified and said the city would have 10 years to approve this ordinance before the city would be out of compliance but said it would be good to do it now while it is fresh in everyone’s minds.

If the wells were to fail inspection, Harris said the DNR would recommend the well be closed and an alternative form of water utility should be utilized.

The proposal was forwarded to the council for approval.

  The committee also approved a proposal for an additional manager at the city pool for the summer. The assistant pool manager would make $3,000 for the summer and would need to be over the age of 18. Harris said last year, a majority of the lifeguards employed by the city were under 18 and a city employee needed to go to the pool on occasion to keep the pool open when the single manager could not be at the pool.

“I think it works better having an adult there,” Mayor Mike Wellner said. “Lifeguards sometimes have a hard time because they’re close to the same age as even people in college. It seems like the problems occurred when there wasn’t an adult there.”

The committee voted to send the proposal to council.

Terry and Erica Crabb, owners of PBR’s Lounge Around in Medford presented a check for $3,000 to representatives of the Medford Area Fire Department on Saturday afternoon following the completion of the Fill the Boot fundraiser held at the tavern. Tavern patrons were asked to place donations in the boot. The owners matched the money patrons donated out of their own pockets to bring the total to $3,000.Brian Wilson/The Star News

The Rib Lake Forensics team competed in the state competition in DeForest this past Saturday. Four of the members brought home a gold medal, indicating they earned a perfect score. Seven members won silver medals and had near perfect scores, 24 out of 25 points. The event was a fabulous culmination to the 2022-23 Forensics season. Pictured are (l. to r.): Back row Elijah Scott, Truman Smith, Anna Konrad, Nadia Czahor, Ana Martin and Julia Dananay. Front row, Jayden Thums, Angel Krueger, Leah Hoffland, Emma Scott and Olivia Lopez.submitted