A year after $10 million was secured for the project through the state bonding bill, the future North Zumbro Sanitary Sewer District, which will replace aging wastewater treatment plants in Wanamingo and three neighbors to the east, is starting to come into view.
At its Monday night meeting, Wanamingo’s City Council received an update from Project Engineer Brandon Theobald of WHKS & Co. on ongoing design work and project planning, just weeks after preliminary designs were released for the lift station and treatment plant.
Next month, Theobold will return to Wanamingo to provide councilors, city staff and residents a more detailed explanation of the proposed project’s impact on residents and businesses, including estimated costs, funding options and impacts on wastewater rates.
Theobold highlighted that Wanamingo residents could end up paying higher sewer rates than residents of other communities served due to the significant amount of I&I (Inflow and Infiltration) leaking into the wastewater.
As a solution, the city is likely to launch a sump pump program this year. Though the program will likely cost $70,000 to $75,000 to launch, Theobold said that similar programs have proven successful and clearly the most cost effective option in other communities with similar issues.
The public hearing is required for the four communities to be able to officially submit their plan to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. From there, they hope to secure additional state funding amounting to half of the approximately $100 million project cost.
While the upfront price tag may be sizable, the four communities say that it’s comparable to the cost of replacing each existing sanitary sewer facility separately. Moreover, they say that, in the long-term, significant savings would be found thanks to increased operational efficiency.
Still, the dauntingly large price tag makes it especially important for the communities to secure state funding. While residents can expect to pay more to help fund the project regardless, the increases would be several times as large if no more state dollars are secured.
At the end of last month, Sen. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, and Rep. Steve Jacob, R-Altura, who co-authored the previous legislation to provide state bonding dollars for the project, introduced updated legislation to provide $44.8 million in support.
Historically, the Legislature has focused on putting together a robust bonding package in even numbered years, though it also passed a large bill last year after failing to do so in 2022 when bipartisan negotiations broke down in the last week of session.
Still, legislative leaders have maintained that bonding should be a top priority. With a traditional bonding bill requiring three-fifths support in the House and Senate, bonding is one of the only areas where DFL majorities in St. Paul will need bipartisan support to move forward.
The proposed project has attracted bipartisan support, with DFL Reps. Kim Hicks of Rochester and Jamie Becker-Finn of Roseville and DFL Sens. Liz Boldon of Rochester and Mary Kunesh of New Brighton again signing on as co-sponsors of the updated legislation.
The council made sure to endorse the updated legislation in a formal resolution, which highlights the significant progress the North Zumbro Sanitary District Joint Powers Board, a coalition of the four cities, has made in land acquisition, pre-design and legal work.
As a part of that work, the council signed off on a land purchase agreement to buy 43.5 acres in the Zumbrota area, which will be home to the future treatment plant. In addition to the Joint Powers Board, the purchase agreement required the consent of all four communities.
Under the purchase agreement, the land would be acquired for just under $1 million, contingent on several mandatory reviews. City Administrator Michael Boulton said that the land is close to Zumbrota’s current wastewater treatment plant and was the Joint Powers Board’s first choice.
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