Village staff and the village's engineering consultants presented a wastewater facilities plan and a 10-year financial management plan to the Village Board that maps out projects, funding sources and potential sewer rate increases. Brian, an engineer with Ellers, told the board that under the plan’s assumptions the sewer utility would need about a 55% cumulative rate adjustment over 10 years and that equates to roughly $14.50 per quarter (about $58 per year) for an average user billed on a 10,000-gallon quarterly basis.

The plan is intended to align the sewer utility’s financial management plan with the facilities plan and to keep the utility fiscally self-sustaining, Brian said. He described the modeling assumptions: a 3% annual increase in operation and maintenance, funding major projects with Clean Water Fund loans at about 2.5%, and no assumption of principal forgiveness or grant funding because, he said, the community’s median household income disqualifies it from that program.

Why it matters: the facilities plan contains multiple large projects, including a new treatment-plant project estimated for construction timing around 2027 and a School Street lift station to be funded in part by Tax Increment District 5 (TID 5). Staff and consultants said timing matters because an existing Clean Water Fund loan principal payment drops off after 2027, freeing capacity in 2028 when new principal payments for the treatment plant would begin.

Board discussion focused on sequencing, contingency and community impacts. Consultants said the project cost estimates include a 30% contingency at the facilities-plan level, and that contingency would typically be reduced in subsequent design phases. Brian warned that project costs and market conditions could change and that the plan is a roadmap rather than a binding commitment to specific designs or dates.

On funding specifics, consultants said TID 5 would provide $1,000,000 cash toward the School Street lift station and the remainder via a Clean Water Fund loan; however, they explicitly excluded any assumed TID assistance for the Honey Creek lift station in the current plan. Consultants also noted the plan assumes no new users during the planning period; adding commercial or multifamily customers would lower the per-customer impact but the board did not adopt any new user assumptions at the meeting.

Board direction and next steps: staff asked for a consensus on proceeding and proposed submitting the facilities plan to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and holding a public hearing. Consultants said they would like to submit the plan prior to Labor Day and hold a public hearing on Sept. 15; board members expressed general support for that timeline and for continuing to refine contingencies and phasing. Brian said, "we need about a 55% adjustment in 10 years," and Bridal and other trustees supported moving forward with outreach and the public hearing process.

This presentation did not include a formal board vote on rates or the facilities plan; board members and staff indicated further public hearings and later board action would be required before any rate ordinance or loan application.