The storm at the beginning of May did not help matters when it came to New Richland’s Inflow and Infiltration (I&I) problem, as it only gets worse with every rainfall.
New Richland’s People Service Operator Shell Johnson spoke to the City Council at its May 28 meeting during her monthly report. The council also discussed a feasibility report for the reconstruction of Ash Avenue S. and Broadway Avenue S. And, the city is working on monitoring a harmful contamination to St. Olaf Lake.
I&I
Shell Johnson, the operator for People Service, Inc. for New Richland, told the council about the city’s I&I problems. The company’s plant received 779,000 gallons from May 1 to May 3 during a storm.
Johnson stated that her staff members did not have to bypass or divert the water from entering the treatment facility during that time, but they did have to bypass during the storm that took place in the middle of May.
“Everything was full, and I couldn’t get caught up,” Johnson said about the water building up. “We can’t let that happen, because that’s not a good enough excuse to bypass. We definitely need to get that water to not go through the plant; it needs to go around into the creek.”
Johnson also explained how the water came in from the field at the end of Division Street and filled up the street. She told City Administrator Anthony Martens and the council that she doesn’t know what the city could do to fix the problem besides putting a culvert on the gravel road to catch some of the water from going into town.
“You’ve got to do something,” said Johnson. “It was over my tires so it was pretty deep.”
Martens told the council that himself, Johnson and Maintenance and Utility Supervisor Eric Hendrickson could bring Luke Dobberstein, a licensed sewer system contractor, over to the area and see if they could figure out some sort of plan to figure it out.
“It’s just been gradually getting worse and worse and worse,” Martens said about the situation. “Every year, it washes out a little worse.”
“You can definitely tell when it rains that we have an I&I issue, and this time it didn’t help, because it came from the field into the plant itself,” Johnson added.
St. Olaf Lake
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) notified the city of New Richland that St. Olaf Lake may contain a blue green algae that may be harmful to humans and pets.
This raised a concern for swimming lessons that will take place at the lake in the summer, but as of right now, the city has not cancelled them. The first batch of lessons are set to start June 17. The city stated that they are monitoring the situation and will continue to keep the community updated.
Signs about the matter have been posted at the landing and swimming areas of the lake. The city also noted that all questions regarding the matter should be referred to the MPCA or the Minnesota Department of Health.
Feasibility report
One of the busiest roads in New Richland is Ash Avenue South, as it is right in front of NRHEG Secondary School. The deterioration of the road has caused the city of New Richland to order a feasibility study to determine the cost of a reconstruction of part of the street.
Martens presented resolution 24-12 to the council at their May 28 meeting. The council unanimously agreed to order the preparation of the report.
The proposed road improvement project would see both Ash Avenue S. and Broadway Avenue S. from Second Street SW to Fourth Street SW take on a complete reconstruction. This would include water, sewer, curb and gutter.
“Basically, what we’re doing is looking to authorize the engineers to put together the total cost of the project to find out what it would cost,” Martens said about the feasibility study.
The city will then decide if it’s able to afford it. If so, staff will take out bonds to pay the cost.
“There’s nothing that’s cemented in stone that we’re going to do these projects or anything like that,” Martens added. “This is just to order the draft to figure out how much it’s going to cost and where we’re going to go and kind of get an idea.”
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