Another sewer project in the works for Rib Lake

New requirements will bring more cost for the village of Rib Lake wastewater treatment plant.

On August 13, village board members approved a scope of services agreement to hire MSA Professional Services to begin planning for the installation of a disinfection unit at the treatment plant. The estimated fee would be about $14,000.

Pat Morrow of MSA said he hoped the final cost would be less than that amount. According to Morrow, the standard practice by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is that treatment plants did not have to worry about disinfecting discharge from the plants if they were classified as non-recreational waterways where people would not be fishing or swimming.

This practice has gotten the attention of the federal EPA which noted that Wisconsin is not consistent with the rest of the country. As a result, treatment plants such as Rib Lake’s which were previously exempted from needing to disinfect their discharge now will have to.

Morrow said he could see the case made for disinfection noting that the marshy areas these types of treatment plants discharge into are routinely used by bird hunters with dogs and others and that you wouldn’t want to expose people to things that might make them sick.

Morrow noted that there is room in the current buildings of the village’s treatment plan to install a new disinfection system. Under DNR permit requirements, the first step for the village is to have a facility plan done, which is what was approved by board members.

Morrow said the plan needs to be completed by April 30, 2026, but he advised the village their goal would be get it completed earlier to meet grant windows and give the village two chances for applying for DNR funding. The grant funding is awarded based on a point system with the projects with the highest point totals receiving priority for funding. Morrow explained that if they were unsuccessful in the first attempt at getting a grant, it would give the village another funding submission year for the work.

Board president Bill Schreiner asked about cost for the total project. Morrow said they would not know for certain until the engineering is done, but said it would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars versus millions of dollars. “It should be less than $500,000, and hopefully significantly less than that,” Morrow said.

Morrow noted that MSA did the original facility plan for the most recent treatment plant project. He said as with that project, they would also be looking at information like median village income, unemployment rates and other information for the grant application. In order to be considered for this year’s funding, the grant application would need to be completed by the end of December. Funds for the project will come from the sewer utility, which is ultimately from the rate payers.

Board members approved hiring MSA to begin the process for the ultraviolet disinfection system. “I don’t see we have much choice,” Schreiner said.

Police Jay Thums has taken over duties as the Rib Lake police chief.

He told board members that since he began work for the village he has reached out to sheriff Corey Dassow and is working to integrate practices in the village to those of the sheriff’s department.

“By no means do we want to be butting heads with the county,” Thums said, assuring the board that he is working to stay on the same page with the county.

Wanting to be integrated with the county was also a drive behind a request to trade in the Beretta pistol used by department and purchase a Glock 9 mm pistol and rifle that would match those used by the sheriff’s department. The cost of these purchases would be $1,177 with $375 taken off for the trade-in of the Beretta for a $802 final cost. Board members chose to trade in the pistol to go toward the purchase of a new one rather than the village attempting to sell it on its own.

In other business, board members:

• Approved a fair housing commitment proclamation which is a grant requirement for the water tower rehabilitation grant project.

• Approved a pay request from Steen for the $511,000 for the road projects. Community Development Block Grant funds will pay for most of it with some to come from the village.

• Approved renewing the agreement for the city of Medford to do the wastewater testing for the village. The city’s treatment plant staff provides the testing for several communities in the region. Schreiner noted the rates charged by the city are far less than what they were doing it for with outside companies. The new rates include a 3% increase from the current year’s rates.

• Approved a zoning change for the former Wisco Stone building at 670 McComb Ave, to go from light industrial to general commercial use. Board members said the intent is to use it as a woodworking shop.

• Approved the purchase of a used tandem trailer for $1,800 that would fit the village’s lawnmower after board members reported examining it and finding it to be a good deal for the community.

• Approved holding off until January to purchase a painter for the village to paint parking lot lines and street lines in the village. The estimated cost is $4,500 and while there is $5,800 remaining in the street machinery budget, there was concern that other expenses might come up before the end of the year leaving the village short. It was noted that it would make more sense to paint lines in the spring rather than in the fall.