RO Wastewater treatment plant upgrades discussed

The Red Oak City Council has been presented with an initial outline for potential upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant.
At the council’s regular meeting Jan. 2, the council heard comments from Jeff Godwin, a civil engineer with the Atlantic office of Snyder & Associates. Godwin said they have completed work on a facilities plan.
“The facility plan is a review of the whole plant and looking at everything in it that needs to be updated. I know Chris Day, your public works guy, has raised concerns over some controls that have been giving him some issues, and there’s some pumps and motors that are fairly old. We’ve evaluated all of that,” Godwin said. “The good news is, your plant currently has the capacity for your town, so you’re not looking at major upgrades, although even just maintenance costs a lot of money.”
Godwin said the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has granted approval to keep the plant the same size; it’s now a matter of submitting the report and seeing what kinds of offers can be given for funding.
“We’re recommending all new controls, electrical components, and pretty much all the motors, valves, and pumps in the plant need to be replaced. When we add all that up and put it into what it would take for a contractor to do the work while staging it so the plant can remain active while we repair different parts of it, the total estimated cost is $8.3 million,” advised Godwin.
Councilperson Brian Bills asked if the cost included building a new brick and mortar facility. Godwin explained it was the cost of everything required to bring the plant to current code needs.
“There may be some minor building changes. We’ve talked about the options of switching part of the process from aerobic over to anaerobic. If we do that, there may be some minor building adjustments. That’s all included in the $8.3 million number. It also includes the engineering fees, permit fees, and all those types of things. You’ve got a little bit of growth room there,” explained Godwin “If you grow a little bit over the next five or 10 years, you’ll be fine. If you have a medium-sized industry move into town that is a large water user, you may not be fine. Iowa DNR requires that if you have a significant industrial user of your wastewater systems, it requires that you have an agreement with the company, and the DNR has to approve that agreement. In most of those cases around the state, the company pays for that extra cost to treat their wastewater. It’s not something you have to put on your own citizens. When you get up to 10,000 or 12,000 population, anaerobic is the better treatment option. Up until then, it’s about 50/50 on which treatment is better.”
While the cost tackles the issues at the plant itself, Godwin said it does not address any issues with manholes, the collection system, and the lines throughout the town.
Councilperson Sharon Bradley toured the facility and said she was impressed with all the work Day had done with the facility.
“I think the structural integrity of the plant is in very good condition. We need to upgrade the valves and pumps and do some maintenance. I feel we’ll be good for several years even with 2% growth,” Bradley stated.
Councilperson Adam Hietbrink said the biggest concern he noted was the plant’s outdated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which was last upgraded in 1986. The SCADA system is a communication control system that communicated through each building through each of the processes. When it was down, the pumps had to be manually told whether to run or not, and the system didn’t flow as it should. Godwin agreed it was a critical need.
“As we know, electronics continue to change, and unfortunately the things we put in today are soon obsolete as technology grows past it. If it’s upgraded, I feel it will have a working life of 15 to 20 years, and would have repair parts for that time. In five years, something will come along that’s better, but you simply can’t afford to wait for five years. You’ll be dead in the water if you wait too much longer as it is,” Godwin advised. “It’s monitored on a regular basis by the Iowa DNR. If you get numbers past your limits, they red flag. If it continues, you can be fined a lot of money.”
Godwin said the items in the engineering report were largely influenced by the DNR.
“We have to recommend a system to them that will treat your wastewater to their standards. They are the ones that issue the allowable limits to your town,” Godwin said.
The city also had a couple of options when it came to funding the project. A loan is available federally through the USDA Rural Development Agency, which is a low-interest loan over 40 years. Another option is a loan through the State of Iowa that is for a 20-year period at a slightly higher interest rate.
“We would recommend we send this report to both of those sources. The DNR will review from a technical and potential funding point of view, as well as the USDA. They will then issue you back an offer. It may include some grant money. You are eligible for grant money from the USDA. They will also lay out the terms of the loan they are offering, and then the council would need to decide if it wanted to continue down that path or not,” explained Godwin.
The council’s consensus was for Godwin to submit the report on the city’s behalf, after tying up a few loose details.
The council then discussed financing options with Jess Bass with  USDA Rural Development. On the agenda was a resolution that had to be passed to submit an application to Bass’ office.
“I will be working on the application if you choose to submit one for funding of the project. The resolution is just to allow for an application has been submitted. I can work with the city when my engineering team has approved the engineering report from Snyder & Associates, and work with city officials to submit an online application for me to underwrite, and then present a funding package to the city for this full project,” explained Bass.
According to Bass, the city would not incur any debt until the construction was completed and the city wanted to close the loan.
“Even if you choose to sign the funding papers, we will award the loan and grant dollars at that point, but you are not incurring any debt until we’re through construction and closing on the financing,” Bass stated.
While the city is eligible for a grant of up to 75% of the total cost, the funding is limited.
“The likelihood of the city getting 75% of the total cost of the project in grant dollars is not going to happen. You will likely get grant dollars, but it would be more in the area of 25%. Nationally, the grant dollars are very limited,” Bass said.
Bills asked if there is funding available through the DNR. Godwin said the DNR loans are usually issued as a substitute for USDA loans, and they generally did not fund the same project together.
Red Oak Mayor Shawnna Silvius asked if the USDA had funded any of the projects in Red Oak in the past. Bass said it had not funded anything in regards to sewer and water infrastructure as of yet.
Plans call for the project to begin between 2025 and 2027. Bass said the loan interest rate would be locked in after the application was submitted and the city signed the papers. Between the rate at award and the rate at closing, the city would be given the lower of the two rates. Bass said she and her office would be available to walk the city through each step as it reached them.
The council approved a resolution for the City of Red Oak to apply for financial assistance with USDA Rural Development to finance repairs and rehabilitation of the sewer system.
Plans were also discussed on opening up the plant for walkthroughs to see the issues needing addressed.
No other action took place at the council meeting.