Public Works, Sewer and Water

CITY OF VERONA MINUTES PUBLIC WORKS/SEWER & WATER COMMITTEE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2022 1. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Touchett at 5:17pm. 2. Roll Call: Present: Evan Touchett, Chad Kemp, Mara Helmke. Also present: Theran Jacobson, Director of Public Works; Jon Bublitz, Utilities Superintendent; David Yearous, Lead Water Operator; Carla Fischer, AECOM, City Engineer; Angel Gebeau, AECOM, Water Distribution Engineer. 3. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Kemp, to approve the minutes of the January 24, 2022 meeting of the Public Works/Sewer and Water Committee. Motion carried 3-0. 4. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Helmke, to recommend approval of agreement with Municipal Well & Pump for Well 6 study, in an amount not to exceed $179,620.00. Motion carried 3-0. Mr. Jacobson provide an overview of well 6 history as follows: well 6 was constructed in 2019-2020 and was on- line in November of 2020. Testing has showed levels of nitrates from the well increasing but still in compliance based upon Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource (WDNR) requirements, 10 mg/L. City staff proactively took Well 6 off-line on October 18, 2021 and coordinated with the WDNR. AECOM and City staff have been working to obtain information necessary to propose solutions. Modeling studies are ongoing to evaluate other pumping options (rate and depth) and to determine the vertical and horizontal movement of water in the aquifer at the well site. The next step to be performed by Municipal Well & Pump is to remove the pump, perform water quality sampling of the well at various depths, perform a packer test with final water sampling, and then to re-install the pump. The results of the work by Municipal Well & Pump and AECOM will assist in proposing solutions for improvements necessary to bring the well back on-line. The contract before you with Municipal Well & Pump shall not exceed $179,620.00. Mr. Bublitz stated that all six of our wells are deep wells and that the WDNR has set testing parameters that we follow which is executed by Mr. Yearous. Mr. Yearous provided the last round of Nitrate test results from samples collected on February 9, 2022: well 1 – 5.01 mg/L, well 2 – 1.73 mg/L, well 3 – 5.33 mg/L, well 4 – 4.26 mg/L, and well 5 – 1.5 mg/L. Mr. Yearous provided the last well 6 nitrate reading of 9.94 mg/L from the sample collected on October 15, 2021. Mr. Touchett asked a series of questions as follows: 1. Have these problems been solved before? 2. What will you find? Do you test at certain levels? 3. What solutions once this testing is done? Ms. Gebeau (response to 1) stated that nitrates are common in drinking water wells with various levels throughout the state and there are solutions to mitigate or treat. Mitigation is the most common practice due to costs and longer-term maintenance with treatment. Ms. Gebeau continued that AECOM has been modeling the well to determine other flow rates at various depths to determine the theoretical vertical and horizontal movement of water based upon the geological formations from the well log and USGS data. There are six layers of formations within in the well according to USGS data, the well is within the upper and middle layers of the formations. Ms. Gebeau (response to 2) stated as part of the Municipal Well & Pump work that we will collect samples which are at various depths in the well to determine if there is a break in the concentration levels at a certain depth  along changes in the formations. The results will help determine where to set the depth for the packer test. The packer test will isolate the upper level of the well and collect samples in the lower level of the well to verify a depth where the well will need to be isolated at in the future. Ms. Gebeau illustrated on the white board a cross section of the bore hole, aquifer function, and packer test. Ms. Gebeau (response to 3) stated that once we can determine where levels of the nitrates are at a lower concentration in the well we would have a steel casing pipe installed to that depth and the voids between the bore hole and the casing pipe sealed. Touchett asked do you install the new casing inside the existing? Ms. Gebeau responded yes, the existing casing pipe is a 24-inch and a small pipe would be installed, that size will be determined at a later date. Mr. Kemp asked how often tests are conducted for nitrates? Mr. Yearous responded that ells 3 and 6 are tested quarterly and wells 1, 2, 4, and 5 are tested annually. Mr. Jacobson noted that once the testing is completed the information will be brough back to the committee for discussion. Mr. Jacobson noted that it is likely that well 6 will be off line through 2022. The regulatory agencies will need to be brought up to speed and likely other approvals will be needed from the WDNR and potentially the Public Service Commission. 5. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Kemp, to recommend approval of project closeout and change order no. 1 for Project 2021-103, Verona Street Rehabilitation Project. Motion carried 3-0. 6. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Helmke, to recommend awarding contract for Project 2020-116, CTH M/CTH PB Intersection Expansion Project to Parisi Construction Co, Inc, of Verona, WI, in the amount not to exceed $1,172,113.59. Motion carried 3-0. 7. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Helmke, to recommend approval of professional services agreement with JT Engineering for construction engineering services at Sugar Creek Elementary, in the amount not to exceed $59,962.50. Motion carried 3-0. 8. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Kemp, to recommend approval of agreement with Wisconsin Department of Transportation for design and construction of Project 1204-08-72, USH 18/151 Auxiliary Lane. Motion carried 3- 0. 9. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Helmke, to recommend approval of professional services agreement with KL Engineering for construction engineering services for Project 1204-08-72, USH 18/151 Auxiliary Lane, in the amount not to exceed $410,665.20. Motion carried 3-0. 10. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Kemp adjourn at 6:01pm. Motion carried 3-0. Note: These minutes were prepared by Theran Jacobson, Director of Public Works. These minutes are based on the notes of the recorder and are subject to change at a subsequent meeting.