Athens OK’s $1.1M bid for sewer upgrade
By Casey Krautkramer
The Athens Village Board on Monday accepted a $1.1 million bid from August Winter & Sons to upgrade the village’s wastewater treatment plant to comply with the state’s phosphorus discharge limit into the Wisconsin River Basin.
Village board members also approved task orders from MSA Professional Services, including $129,300 for construction engineering for the sewer plant upgrades and $30,000 for grant administration services. The village hired MSA Professional Services last year to process a 2024 Clean Water Fund application so the village could obtain a loan for the sewer plant upgrades, which will reduce the amount of phosphorus discharged and remove sludge from the lagoons. The village was notified in December that it had been awarded $2.1 million from the CWF program, including $1 million in principal forgiveness for phosphorous reduction and $391,188 in general principal forgiveness. The remaining funding will be borrowed with a subsidized interest rate.
Athens residents’ sewer rates increased by 15 percent on Jan. 1 this year so the village would have additional revenue to help pay for the DNR-mandated plant upgrades.
The upgrades include feed equipment for phosphorous removal and pH stabilization along with sludge removal from the lagoons. Chemical storage and related equipment will be located both inside the village’s existing Rotating Biological Contractor (RBC) building and outside adjacent to the building.
March 1 of this year is the deadline for the village to start construction on upgrading the treatment plant, and the project needs to be completed before March 31, 2026.
Other business
■ The board approved the purchase of a parcel of land at 208 Allen Street, located next to the snow sledding hill, from River Country Coop for $2,271 plus closing costs. Board members discussed possibly having logger Todd Thurs remove the trees on the land at no cost to the village because he can take all the wood.
Village president Randy Decker said the village would then place fill from street projects on the land, which could be possibly sold for housing in the future.
■ Board members approved a motion to sell a 5.63 acre parcel of land at 1208 Park View Lane in the industrial park to JB Concrete, which is owned by Jon Borchardt.
■ The board accepted a $234,181 bid from Switlick & Sons for this year’s Maple Street project and a bid from American Asphalt for $8,904 for a section of Schlegel Street.
■ Board members approved alcohol operator’s licenses for Elizabeth Santoyo Zintzun and Nicole Wilcox.
■ Police Chief Aaron Stencil received permission from the board to research having Flock Safety cameras installed on STH 97 light poles to take photos of license plates in case there is an Amber Alert for a child abduction or a burglary in the village. He told the village that he wouldn’t be ready to have the safety cameras installed until the end of summer.
■ Chris Perkins, chairman of the village water and sewer committee, told the full village board that his committee met on Jan. 20 and held a discussion with Marathon County Conservation, Planning and Zoning about well head protection for the Mueller Street wells. The committee discussed land rental fees for 20 acres of prairie grasses and 80 acres of grazing grasses, which would used to to reduce nitrates in the wells. Committee member Taran Brodziski questioned whether the village needs this amount of land, and the committee tabled the discussion to a future meeting.
■ The village board changed its May meeting date to Monday, May 19, because of Memorial Day and its December meeting date and time to 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 15, because of Christmas.
