Abby told to look for more wells

City urged to apply for grant funding for water projects

By Kevin O’Brien

Ten years after adding 12 new wells to its water system, Abbotsford is once again looking for new sources of groundwater to keep up with demand.

Engineer Dan Greve of MSA Professional Services told the city council at its April 5 meeting that five or six new wells likely need to be drilled soon to supplement the city’s existing 26 wells. His recommendations are based on a water system evaluation MSA was hired to do.

The well field added in 2011, located west of the city south of STH 29, provides about 50 percent of the city’s water supply but each of those wells only produces about 22 gallons per minute, Greve said.

Greve said the Eau Pleine water treatment plant, which was built at the same time as the 12 wells, has plenty of capacity to treat more groundwater. However, most of the city’s existing wells produce under 50 gallons per minute.

Most days, the city’s wells only need to pump about eight hours per day, but on high-demand days, Greve said the number of pumping hours more than doubles to 18.

“If your largest well were out of service, that would go up to 22 hours per day,” he told the council. “That’s significantly higher than standard engineering practice and what the DNR wants to see. ”

Abbotsford’s water usage went up significantly in 2018 and 2019, he said, and much of that was industrial. He noted that Abbyland Foods consumes about 75 percent of the city’s water supply “We did reach out to them and ask them what their future water needs might be,” he said. “It’s always a big challenge for industries to project out more than six months ahead, so we’re still waiting to get feedback from them.”

At the same time, he said the city’s population is projected to increase by 26

See ABBY WATER/ Page 7 percent over the next 20 years.

“That’s a pretty significant increase in demand,” he said.

Besides drilling new wells, the city also needs to recondition its water tower, at a estimated cost of up to $450,000, based on an inspection done by KLM Engineering in 2020.

Greve outlined several potential funding sources the city could use to pay for rehabbing its existing wells, drilling new ones and refurbishing the water tower. These include everything from the DNR’s Safe Water Drinking loan program to tax incremental financing.

Deadlines for some of these funding sources are coming up in the next few months, so MSA plans on presenting the council with proposals to prepare and submit applications on behalf of the city.

As part of the Safe Routes to School project that was started last year, the city plans on making some improvements to the intersection of West Spruce Street and North Fourth Avenue, where many students cross to get to school.

The original plan was to install rapid flashing beacons at that corner, but that was before two stop signs were added on the east and west sides. The revised plans call for installing flashing LED lights on those two stop signs to catch the attention of drivers on Spruce Street.

Two local Girl Scouts, Hazel Flink and Lilly Esselman, were given permission to raise money from local businesses to purchase the LED lights and solar panels to provide them with electricity.

Project engineer Dan Borchardt of MSA said the cost of installing LED lights on the two stop signs would be $7,000, but DPW Craig Stuttgen said his crew could do the installation, which would reduce the cost by about half.

Flink and Esselman said raising money for the LED lights is their way of earning a Silver Award, the highest honors available to Girl Scout cadettes.

The rapid flashing beacons, which have already been purchased, will be moved to the T-intersection of Cedar Street and Fourth Avenue, which is another busy crossing area for students.

Melvin Companies, the contractor on the SRTS project, is set to resume work on April 19, installing a block of sidewalk on the west side of Fourth Avenue, from Spruce to Butternut. The sidewalk on the east side of that block will be removed, as will a block of sidewalk on the south side of Butternut.

_ The council approved a conditional use permit for Dollar General to build a standalone store on STH 13 (313 S. Fourth St.) between Computer TR and Northern Vet Supply. A new certified survey map was also approved.

_ During his monthly public works update, Stuttgen said his crew recently installed drain tile on Fourth Avenue to get a head start on a street reconstruction project planned for this summer. He also said work will begin soon on establishing a walking trail in the Schilling Meadows subdivision.

_ The council approved a proposal to pulverize and reconstruct the roadway on North Third Avenue, from Larch to Pine Street. The estimated $70,000 for the work will come out of the city’s annual road construction budget.

_ The council approved a final payout of 8.62 hours in paid time off for recently retired deputy clerk Louella Luedtke.

_ The council approved a proposal from Cedar Corporation to install 600 feet of storm sewer pipe on West Linden Street, at estimated a cost of $94,000. This will include $10,100 in engineering costs, which is $800 less than originally expected.

_ The council approved a crack sealing bid of $1.10 per pound of material from D and D Sealcoating of Wausau.

_ The council approved a notice to proceed for Switlick and Sons to begin June 1 on reconstructing North Fourth Avenue, from Spruce to Pine Street.

_ The council approved a $20,571 pay application from Haas Sons for work done on the extension of Opportunity Drive into the new industrial park area. The contractor plans on doing some final paving and site restoration work in May.

_ The council approved a street use permit for the sixth annual Abby Festival, which will be held June 4-6. Portions of First Street and Birch will be closed starting on May 31 in order to allow carnival rides and vendors to set up. A temporary beer license was also approved.

_ The council approved a permit for the owner of Great Deals, LLC to hold a flea market in the parking lot of the East Town Mall, April 16-18. The applicant indicated that he would like to make it a monthly event.

_ The council approved alcohol operator’s licenses for Angela Kralick at Dollar General, Heidi Scarcello at Fiesta Ballroom and Trinity White at Fat Boys Bar & Grill.