Story originally printed in the Holmen Courier or online at www.holmencourier.com

Published - Thursday, July 10, 2008

Onalaska faces whirlpool of funding gaps for infrastructure

By JO ANNE KILLEEN | Staff writer

The Onalaska Board of Public Works barely batted an eye when they approved the purchase of a property on Second Avenue for 70 percent more than its appraised value. But they balked at paying $3,000 for two street lights for the Holiday Heights intersection and cringed when discussing $32,500 in emergency repairs to the storm sewer lift station at 1113 Main St.

The property at 102 Second Ave., the site of the old Jewel Tea Company and more recently the Marble Shop that belongs to David and Jacqueline Platz, was last assessed in 2004 at $156,200. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation recently appraised the value of the property — a target for purchase for intersection improvement for the Highway 35 expansion — at $266,700. The BPW will recommend WisDOT’s offering price to the Common Council, which meets Tuesday, July 8.

After the meeting, Mayor Mike Giese said assessments are made by “looking in the rearview mirror,” taking a look backward at what the property has been used for in the past. Appraisals, he said, are “forward looking,” looking at the property’s potential for the future.

“I’m certain this property has significant value for the future of Onalaska,” Giese said.

In the city’s favor, the purchase will be reimbursed by WisDOT as part of the highway project.

What won’t be reimbursed by the state is the purchase of two street lights for $3,000 to light up the corners for Holiday Heights on Highway 16. The state is happy to issue the permit but won’t participate in the cost, according to City Engineer Jarrod Holter, who also said there was no money in the budget for the purchase. While all members of the BPW agreed a light should be there, no one could identify a source of funding.

Giese said the state has been “nickel and diming” municipalities, transferring what had been state responsibilities back to the cities and towns.

Alderman Tim Miller recommended the BPW go to the state again through Holter’s administrative channels while Giese contacts area elected legislators for assistance.

Immediate assistance is needed for the city to repair an emergency issue at the storm sewer lift station on Main Street. According to Holter, approximately 200 acres of property within the city is in danger of being flooded. On June 18, city employees determined that both the 8-inch and 12-inch relief valves at the station failed and are currently not providing protection to the piping system as intended. In addition, the lift station is nearing the end of its useful life and will need a major overhaul soon.

With the abnormal amount of rain absorbed so far this summer, the danger of flooding is imminent.

“One more rain event, and we’ll have flooding,” Holter told the BPW. “Failure could cause extensive and incidental damage; it could be catastrophic.”

Furthermore, the faulty valves are doubling operational costs for the city.

“Our normal electric bill for operating the station is about $450,” Holter told the board. “Last month it was $1,400.”

Despite acknowledging the immediate repair is a temporary fix, the BPW will recommend the full council approve the expenditure of $32,500. The funds will come from the storm sewer fund.

Finding and fixing a significant water leak at the JAE Mobile Home Park should have been done by the owners, the BPW concluded.

According to a letter to the city from Jack Edwards, owner of the mobile home park, “The leak was undetected for some time after very thorough inspections of the entire mobile home park and each lot individually.” One month later, the letter states, a resident started reporting sand in the water, which the owner surmised indicated where the leak was. “We have since found the leak and repaired it.” Edwards was requesting relief under a “one-time rate reduction for such water leaks.”

The water and sewer bill in April 2006 was over $4,800; April 2007 it was again almost $4,800. In April 2008, the bill was over $8,700 and the July 2008 bill was $16,650.15.

Holter said the city had notified Edwards in June 2007 of the leak. But, he said, “the leak got worse over time.”

“There was a problem and he didn’t take care of it,” Alderman Clarence Stellner said. “I think a blind man could have found it.”

City Finance Director Fred Buehler told board members there was a sewer commercial meter ordinance that might be applicable to water leaks. The ordinance said that if consumption in the next four billings is higher, they will always go back to the April 1 billing. If the meter drops below the winter reading, the city would take the lower of the two.

“With that said,” Buehler said, “I feel comfortable if he fixes the problem; the bill going out in October will be lower.”

Buehler moved to deny the request based on the policy of notification to individuals of an unknown leak. According to Holter, Edwards was notified in June 2007.

Giese voted against the motion, stating that in a business environment, the amount being charged for sewer services would be classified as unearned income.

“On the sewer side, as opposed to the water side, we never incurred cost of sales and it never went into the sewer meter system that imposes operational costs,” Giese said. “This never affected (the city’s) sewer rates paid to the treatment plant in La Crosse.”

The motion passed 4-1.

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