Water and Wastewater Update

February 23,  2009

New management has required new investment and the department has had some one-time expense in getting organized.  The City will now own everything used to operate the Oregon water and wastewater department including computers and testing equipment. 

MDES is working very hard to correct many neglected operations at our department, and after two months of new management and there have been vast improvement.  Our new management is intent on preventive maintenance and operations improvement, and plans and procedures will provide less inconvenience to our City customers.  MDES will be hiring an employee to jet sewers during the summer.  New equipment is being purchased that will remove tree roots that have grown into our wastewater mains which restrict flow and cause backups.

CMT the Oregon engineers for the wastewater upgrade and MDES have had a nuts and bolts meeting January 13th, and we are now on the same page with the planned sewer plant rebuild.  We are now convinced that with some changes that can be incorporated with the wastewater upgrade, our CSO problems with the EPA can be brought into compliance, and we can eliminate combined discharges into the Rock River 

It is hoped that the upgrade project will be approved and we can begin construction this summer with completion in 2010.  The application is now number 11 with the IEPA in Springfield.

CMT, to add a new wet well and pumps to the entrance of our wastewater plant have forwarded a request to the IEPA.   We hope that the addition will be added to the financing now planned for the upgrade.  We have a problem with 60 year old worn out pumps discharging into our wastewater system through 4” piping.  MDES has options to resolve the problem temporarily until a new wet well can be built, or install new pumps in our old system as a retrofit. 

Changes in the wastewater upgrade and the delay in approval by the IEPA have escalated the cost of the project to $5,300,000.  Good things have happened with the $500,000 STAG grant from Don Manzullo.  The IEPA Revolving Loan will be $4,800,000, and with the recently passed stimulus package the loan should be interest free for 20 years.  This is well within the now existing water and wastewater capitol improvement fund, and there should not be any increases in fees for the planned project.

The plan to extend sewer mains North of Oregon have been completed and the Council has voted unanimously to coordinate the project with the IDOT rebuild of Route 2 North.  I have been informed by MDES that the wastewater extension will be delayed for 90 until the IEPA has time to review the plan.  This project will be paid for out of the water and wastewater capitol improvement fund and will not require additional funding.

In April the department will be looking at water and wastewater operations and if the department budget is in balance, a cost of living increase will be added to fees annually.  This increase for inflation will keep the water and wastewater department on a firm footing.

The department will also be looking at new City Ordinances with regard to City water, sewer and City customer responsibilities.  Many ideas about how to manage our City department will be improved with the help of our new managers and they’re past experience.

There was a water main break on 8th Street Wednesday January 14th and the weather was severe at 8 degree’s.  This is a very hard time of the year for City employees and having to perform service in such dangerous temperatures deserves our gratitude.   What made this repair more difficult was that when the street was widened in the 1970’s the new road was located directly over the water main.  The sad part is the excavation of the newly resurfaced roadway, and the excavation material froze before it could be removed.   The project has been partially cleaned up and I thank customers affected for their patience.

The department has purchased a new trash pump to replace our worn out and damaged pump.  We had difficulty-pumping water at the 8th Street water-main break and it was found that the worn out pump had leaking seals. 

The department has replaced four commercial water meters and although expensive to replace, they will pay for themselves with accurate meter readings.  Old meters read low and give inaccurate readings at a considerable cost to the City.

We have been experiencing problems with meter readings from the change over from EMC to MDES and this should be resolved this month.  Required procedures by EMC were apparently neglected, but now that is corrected.