City Selects New Route For River Crossing LineIssue Date: March 3, 2022 Location of the new river crossing for the sanitary sewer line that brings wastewater across the Peshtigo River to the east side and then back again to the wastewater treatment plant on the west side is settled after many months of deliberations.
At the end of its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 1, Peshtigo City Council went into closed executive session to discuss the issue, with members of the Water and Sewer Commission present, along with City Attorney David Spangenberg.
Approximately 15 minutes later, Council returned to open session and voted without dissent "to to approve Plan 3 as described by Ruekert and Mielke, Inc,'s Alternative Sanitary Sewer River Crossing Evaluation Study dated October 5, 2021."
That plan gets the river crossing entirely off BPM. Inc. property, and instead uses property the city purchased on Feb. 4 from Rudy Pilot. Instead of going down East Front Street, the river crossing line will go down an alley to the railroad tracks, and utilize an old route that crosses under the tracks before going east to the river across from the city garage.
Fred Meintz, a long-time member of the city's Water and Sewer Committee, was pleased with the decision, and commented, "It's good to be able to move off the BPM, Inc. property. We now have our own route."
With that decision made, apparently planning and construction of the new river crossing line can now go forward. If all goes well, the city could be eligible for a state grant to cover up to 30 percent of the estimated total cost of the project. One advantage of this option is that it includes replacement of the sewer line in the alley which is deemed to be in very poor condition.
In other action at the March 1 meeting, Council authorized Police Chief Fred Popp to use part-time Police department staff at a rate of up to $15 per hour, depending on qualifications, to complete office duties while remaining within budget, and approved hiring two new full-time and two new part-time Patrolmen for the department as chosen by the Personnel Committee in closed session at its meeting on Friday, Feb. 25.
The new full time Patrolmen are Josh Lindt and Adam Hynnek, and the new part time officers are Shawn Veriha and Rebecca Praegitzer. Praegitzer is the first woman officer to ever serve on the Peshtigo Police Department.
In April of 2021 the city had contracted with Robert E. Lee & Associates to do design work for improvements to West Park Drive from North Emery Ave. to Aubin Street for a price of $28,900. That work, Phase 1, has been completed. The Streets and Drainage Committee determined that additional engineering work is needed for that project, as well as for work on East Front Street and South Cranberry Ave., and recommended an addition to the contract for work to be done in 2022. The additional work will add $47,600, bringing the total contract price to $76,500. Of that cost, $23,200 is for construction observation and $5,200 is for construction administration. The work is to be done during the 2022 construction season.
Before the unanimous vote to approve the expanded contract with Robert E. Lee, Alderman Rick Berth asked if this was done without going out for bids. Alderman John Berendt, who chairs the Streets and Drainage Committee, said Public works Director George Cowell had done the homework prior to his March 1 retirement date, and the committee felt the construction administration and oversight is particularly needed for these projects, in the absence of a Public Works Director.
Council unanimously approved some revisions to the rules and regulations for Badger Park Campground as recommended by the Parks and Recreation. New rules include a provision prohibiting display of any flag, artwork, sign or similar objects as an expression of government speech; and prohibition of drugs, fireworks, lewd/rowdy behavior or use of excessive profanity in the campground. All campsites must be paid for in advance, and the rules stipulate that if any of the rules are broken, staff has the right to ask campers to leave at any time, without a refund.
The Parks and Recreation Committee at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 28 approved purchase of a longer and larger dock to be placed in the Peshtigo River by the small Badger Park Pavilion, and discussed possible grants for bleachers at the ball field and for a softball field concession stand.
As recommended by the RLF/UDAG Committee, Council approved a $200,000 UDAG loan to Tri-Tech Manufacturing LLC or other acceptable entity, with interest at 125 basis points above the 10-year treasury yield for the 10-year term, with several contingencies; and an amendment to the existing loan agreement with Field & Forest Products, Inc. to require the borrower to maintain 55% or more of the outstanding balance.
There was no report from Building Inspector Tom Smith.
Before Council voted to go into closed session for the Sewer Crossing discussion, Alderman Brigitte Schmidt and Alderman Rick Berth noted a couple in the back of the room appeared to be waiting to speak, and wondered why they had not spoken during time for public comment near the start of the meeting. Malke said they needed to go to a committee meeting with their issue, and said that from now on, she is only allowing public comments at City Council meetings if they pertain to an item or items already on the agenda for that meeting.
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