Curtiss picks two firms to review sewer plans
Village officials in Curtiss have selected two engineering firms to provide a second opinion on a proposed sewer plant upgrade, with the hopes of coming in well below the $20 million price tag on the current facility plan.
At a special meeting last Thursday, village president Betty Rettig, trustee John Unruh and DPW Larry Swarr reviewed proposals from five engineering firms interested in going over the existing facility plan and offering alternate ideas.
The firms included Davy Engineering of LaCrosse, Cooper Engineering of Rice Lake, Town & Country Engineering of Madison, CBS Squared of Chippewa Falls, and Donahue & Associates of Sheboygan.
The village had originally reviewed informal proposals from several firms at its regular monthly meeting on June 1, but due to the wide range in cost estimates, a letter was sent out to better define the scope of work. According to that letter, the village wants a “high level review” of the existing facility plan with alternate options at “significantly less cost.”
The village also wants the engineers to consider options that would become available if Abbyland Foods were to reduce the amount of industrial waste it sends to the village’s treatment facilities.
Davy, which has extensive work history with the village, did not commit to a particular cost estimate, saying the initial review could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000. CBS Squared offered the most specific, and lowest, fee estimate, of $1,880. The other three firms provided more in-depth proposals with a scope of their services, hourly rates and examples of other projects they’ve completed.
“Most of these, they’re just doing time and labor estimates,” Unruh said. “They’re going to bill us for what they do.”
The board ultimately chose Donahue and CBS Squared to provide second opinions.
Unruh said he liked the fact that Donahue focuses exclusively on sewer projects. Swarr noted that Donahue helped the village of Stanley design its own sewer plant, which saved millions of dollars.
When asked if Swarr was comfortable designing some of the upgrades, he said he could do some simpler modifications, like adding a chemical fee system.
In regard to CBS Squared, Unruh noted that the firm had the lowest price estimate and, based on their proposal, they seem willing to listen to the village’s input and take it seriously.
Unruh said that engineer Michael Davy can also be called upon for advice or insight along the way.
“I don’t know that we necessarily need a second opinion from Davy because he can get him whenever we want to, and he can just bill us an hourly rate,” he said.
MSA Professional Services, which wrote the current draft facility plant, did not submit a formal proposal for a second opinion.
New trustee chosen
Rettig and Unruh interviewed three candidates for the empty position on the board — Jim Jensen, Keith Gipp and Ken Hoeper — and eventually agreed to appoint Hoeper.
Hoeper, 68, is a veteran of the U.S. Army who has held a number of jobs in the area, including school bus driver, maintenance worker at Weather Shield in Medford and supervisor at Kerry Ingredients in Owen. He also served as an EMT and firefighter on the Owen-Withee Fire Department for 13 years.
Hoeper said he currently works as a truck driver, but his job does not take him too far from Curtiss, so he should be available for meetings.
“I’m always home every night, so it’s not a big deal,” he said.
Hoeper also noted that he has a year of civil engineering education and has experience with water and sewer sampling at the Kerry Ingredients plant.
Rettig and Unruh mentioned Hoeper’s experience in these areas as reasons for choosing him for the position.
Hoeper said he’s not afraid to work with people and expects to handle phone calls and complaints from residents.
“I don’t want to change a lot of things, but I would like to see some improvements,” he said. “And we’ve always got to watch the dollar.”
With Hoeper sworn in as the second trustee at another special meeting Tuesday, the board was able to renew all of the village’s alcohol and tobacco licenses for another year, starting July 1. Rettig and Hoeper voted in favor of renewing the licenses, and Unruh abstained.
Other business
_ The board voted to make a counteroffer of $6,500 to Champion Tank Services for a handrail installation at the water tower that was originally done with the wrong specifications. The handrail was included as part of repainting project done by Champion, which failed to verify the proper size of the railing and did not provide a certificate of insurance to the village or get DNR approval before doing the work. The village, however, provided the wrong railing size in its specs.
The village proposed splitting the cost of the wrong-sized handrail, reducing its cost by $4,250. Champion rejected that proposal but offered to deduct $1,800 from the price of the correct-sized handrail, bringing the total cost to $8,000.
_ Rettig, Unruh and Swarr toured the village’s fire station, which is rented and used by the Owen-Withee-Curtiss Fire District. Village officials are looking at renegotiating its agreement with the district, which deducts $16,000 per year from the village’s fire protection assessment in exchange for use of the building.
The village currently pays all of the utilities at the building, which amount to about $10,000 per year, plus a $55,000 annual payment on a 20-year loan.
