Utility Packet 09.24.2025

Cassie Lang Village Clerk / Deputy Treasurer VILLAGE OF MARATHON CITY, MARATHON COUNTY, WISCONSIN AGENDA UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING – HYBRID VILLAGE HALL – BOARD ROOM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2025 - 4:00 p.m. PUBLIC VIRTUAL ACCESS Join Teams Meeting: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting Meeting ID: 261 174 214 35 Passcode: cY2jA33d Notice Posted at the Municipal Center Notice Received by Record-Review DATE: Monday, September 22, 2025 DATE: Monday, September 22, 2025 TIME: 3:15 pm TIME: 3:15 pm _____________________________________________________________________________________ 1. CALL TO ORDER UTILITY ROLL CALL: A. BERENS, B. BOHR, M. TELFORD, D. SEILER, K. HANDRICK JR. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. RECO GNITION OF VISITORS a. Virtual Meeting Guidelines i. This meeting will be recorded and available upon request b. Public Participation at Government Meetings 4. APP ROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS a. Discuss and Possible Action on Approval of Minutes for August 27, 2025 Utility Commission Meeting 5. REVI EW AND APPROVAL OF PAYMENT OF BILLS 6. PUB LIC UTILITY OPERATIONS & FACILITIES REPORT 7. UNFI NISHED BUSINESS 8. NEW BUSINESS a. Discuss Draft 2026 Utility Budget 9. S CH EDULED MEETINGS a. Regular Meeting: Wednesday, October 29, 2025 – 4:00 p.m. b. Special Meetings as Needed 10. ADJO URNMENT Cassie Lang Village Clerk / Deputy Treasurer VILLAGE OF MARATHON CITY, MARATHON COUNTY, WISCONSIN UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING – HYBRID VILLAGE HALL – BOARD ROOM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2025 - 4:00 p.m. MINUTES _____________________________________________________________________________________ 1. CALL TO ORDER at 4:00 pm UTILITY ROLL CALL: A. BERENS-Present, B. BOHR-Present, M. TELFORD-Present, D. SEILER-Present, K. HANDRICK JR.-Present 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS a. Virtual Meeting Guidelines i. This meeting will be recorded and available upon request b. Public Participation at Government Meetings Attending virtually: Kevin O’Brien from Record Review 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS a. Discuss and Possible Action on Approval of Minutes for June 18, 2025 Utility Commission Meeting MOTION – Approve Minutes from June 18, 2025 Utility Commission Meeting Motion made by Handrick second by Bohr. Motion passed by voice vote. 5. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF PAYMENT OF BILLS Commission members questioned the following bill payments: Check 48815 – Midwest Meter – TFX clamp on backwash meter Check 48818 – SJE Inc. – revert controls back to previous fluoride system Check 48861 – Dodson Auto II, LLC – WWTP Generator Repair Check 48903 – Core & Main, LLC. – Menzner Hardwoods vacated private hydrant – installed new Village hydrant on North St. - reimbursed by Menzner Hardwoods for their portion Check 48937 – Water Well Solutions – Well #1 Pull & Inspect Payment Check 48940 – Asher O’Callaghan – refund to customer, overpayment upon move out – miscommunication between homeowner and closing company MOTION – Approve Payment of Bills Motion made by Handrick second by Berens. Motion passed by voice vote. 6. PUBLIC UTILITY OPERATIONS & FACILITIES REPORT Director of Public Works, Ken Bloom, presented the Commission with a Facilities Report for July and August. The report can be found in the Agenda Packet. 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 8. NEW BUSINESS a. Discuss Water Tower Project Progress Cassie Lang Village Clerk / Deputy Treasurer Administrator Cherek informed the Commission the water tower repair is in progress and going well. He stated after consulting with the League of Municipalities that the Village did not need to take this project to bid as it is a maintenance item. Lane Tank is sandblasting, priming, and painting the interior and exterior along with fixing an air gap required by the DNR. A new safety railing was installed on the top of the tank. Completion expected to be another 2 weeks. Project cost to total $120,000. b. Discuss and Approval Well #1 Project Progress Water Well Solutions began the process of pulling and inspecting Well #1 to determine if it can be rehabbed. Their investigation discovered the casing that was in question is in ok shape, however, they noted an issue with the 8” screen. The screen is deteriorating and using any chemicals to treat it would only cause it to deteriorate faster. Cherek and Bloom introduced the option to install a 6” screen inside the 8” one as a temporary fix with a cost between $76,000 and $104,000. Commission members discussed this option and decided it best to put Well #1 back together as is and move forward with the process of replacing it. Administrator Cherek presented the Commission with proposals from project engineers, Strand Associates and Vierbicher Associates, for the new well. The proposals came in with a difference of about $16,000 for the engineering costs. Cherek noted that Strand has more expertise in Utility projects and Viebicher would be more useful to the Village in regards to setting utility rates and completing PSC reports. The Commission discussed the 2 options and came to a decision. MOTION – Move Forward with Strand Associates as the Project Engineer for the Well 1 Replacement Project Motion made by Handrick second by Bohr. Motion passed by voice vote. c. Discuss and Approval on Water & Sewer Connection for 704 Thornapple St Administrator Cherek supplied the Commission with an application to hook up to the Village Water & Sewer Main lines at 704 Thornapple St. This is a new home build. MOTION – Approve Water & Sewer Connection for 704 Thornapple St Motion made by Handrick second by Seiler. Motion made by voice vote. 9. SCHEDULED MEETINGS a. Regular Meeting: Wednesday, September 24, 2025 – 4:00 p.m. b. Special Meetings as Needed 10. ADJOURNMENT at 5:14 pm. Motion to adjourn made by Handrick second by Telford. Motion passed by voice vote. Marathon City Utility Operations & Facilities Report for September 2025 Water Treatment Facility Report The water facility is operating well and meeting all the testing requirements. A portable, temporary, transducer provided by Badger Meter, was mounted on each of the 4 iron and manganese removal filter cells to monitor the backwash cycles. This gave us useful information on how efficiently the filter cell was getting backwashed (Optimal expansion of the filter bed during the backwash cycle, for maximum removal of sediment). The operator can then increase or decrease the amount of time the cell is aerated or backwashed, to get the optimal removal of sediments and increase the filtering efficiency of the filter bed (green sand). UPDATE – 9/25 – We have requested an official quote for one mobile transducer that would monitor the backwash cycles of each cell, giving us real time data of the filter bed expansion and the overall backwash cycle efficiency. This could potentially have some cost savings through various factors such as; electricity, water, filter cell run times, iron and manganese removal efficiency, and durations of backwash cycles. Without having more data, and making adjustments to the backwash cycles, it’s difficult to predict any potential savings; however, it would help optimize the backwash cycles from an operational standpoint. If we move forward, the unit would be purchased next year, and be included in the 2026 operating budget. The sandblasting, priming, and painting of the water tower has been completed. The tower was repainted both interior and exterior, other minor repairs were completed as required by the DNR, and a new safety railing was installed on the top of the tower. The Utility obtained safe water samples on September 9 th and 10th and the water tower was put back in service on September 10th. The water reservoir was drained down approximately half way and inspected (without physically entering the tank) as required by the WDNR to be completed in 2025. The clearwell at the water treatment facility is scheduled to be physically inspected (entering inside the tank) sometime in November 2025. This will require us to bypass the clearwell and obtain 2 safe bac-t drinking water samples, before it can be put back in service. The clearwell is expected to be out of service for approximately 2-3 days. The pumping equipment and electric motor were to be refurbished for Well #1, and should be completed sometime this week. Water Well Solutions should be here in the next couple of weeks to reinstall the equipment and put Well #1 back in service. The Utility declined to proceed with the smaller 6” screen installation due to costs, required DNR approval, and an uncertain outcome attributable to obvious risks associated with the procedure (cleaning & installation of the screen). Strand Associates will be submitting an information request list to the Utility sometime this week, as they ramp up efforts on the preliminary design and funding assistance for the new well. Wastewater Treatment Facility Report The wastewater treatment plant met all WPDES permit limits for the months of August 2025. A drawdown test was conducted by Vierbicher Associates on the Trailer Court Lift Station. This was done to determine GPM@TDH. William Reid will use the design characteristics to match motor and pump size, to meet those requirements. UPDATE – 8/25 – William/Reid was here on August 19th to install the new pumps and motors at the Trailer Court Lift Station. After installation and start-up, the new pumps are still cavitating. The dynamic (pumping) head pressures and flows were recorded. Vierbicher Associates recommended the pumps be designed for 100 gpm @ 65 ft TDH. The dynamic readings on the new pumps were approximately 120-130 gpm @ 53 ft TDH. This is most likely causing the cavitation of the pumps. UPDATE – 9/25 – I have forwarded the start-up report to Vierbicher Associates for review. I have also requested the Pump Test Certification Form from Smith & Loveless. The Utility will wait for recommendations from either Vierbicher or William Reid on how to proceed. Biosolids/Sludge sampling will be conducted next week, Tuesday, September 30th. Annual sampling requirements include fecal coliform, nutrients, and heavy metal concentrations. These parameters are used to determine land application approval limits and land application rates. Steve Cherek, Village Administrator, is working to secure the engineering contract with Vierbicher Associates, to prepare a bid package for the sanitary sewer, Cure-in-Place-Piping (CIPP) – Slip Lining Project, proposed for next year. Wastewater Regulatory Requirements: 1) The Utility received a letter from the DNR requesting additional information, for determination of eligibility of the Multi-Discharger Phosphorus Variance. UPDATE 8/25 – Strand Associates, the DNR, and Village Staff met on July 21st, to discuss the Multi-Discharger Variance for Phosphorus compliance, that was submitted to the DNR on behalf of the Utility. The DNR stated the Utility is currently meeting the final phosphorus limit, therefore; a Variance is not needed; however, we are currently not discharging at the design flow of the wastewater treatment plant, which could impact future phosphorus removal efficiencies. After the meeting, it is our understanding that the DNR will not grant the MDV, and we will be required to meet the final phosphorus limit of 1.55 lbs. per day. UPDATE 9/25 – The DNR did issue a letter of denial, dated 8/8/25, regarding our application for the Multi-Discharger Phosphorus Variance. The notification came through an email from Matt Claucherty, Permits Section - WDNR, on 9/4/25. Wastewater Treatment Facility Report (Continued) 2) I have requested a copy of the WPDES draft permit, prior to the 30-day public notice. The DNR has agreed to send me a copy of the draft permit and fact sheet. As of the meeting, I have not received a copy of the draft permit, which leads me to suspect they will not reissue our permit on time. Our current permit is set to expire on September 30th, 2025. If the new permit is not reissued on time, we continue operations under our current permit. UPDATE 9/25 – After talking with the Village of Edgar and hearing other Utilities talk about their recent WPDES permit reissuance process, at last week’s MEG Wastewater Meeting, most permittees are seeing their permits reissued 6-9 months past the expiration date. If this holds true, our current permit would then be reissued in the March-June 2026 timeframe. Submitted by: Ken Bloom, Director of Public Works & Utilities