Politics & Government

Storm Water, Sewer Study Expected By July

Rainfall data from Bayside weather station averts additional four-month delay.

Consultants hired to draft a comprehensive study of village storm water and sanitary sewer operations plan to finish the report in July, not October, as projected at last week’s Village Board meeting.

Donohue and Associates consultants originally expected to be finished with the study in April, but to allow time for new, more accurate rainfall data to be collected to calibrate the sanitary sewer model with actual rainfall conditions.

At a special Village Board meeting Monday, Donohue engineer Steve Stricklen said the projected delay until October was based on faulty data gathered from a weather station at Lawrence J. Timmerman Airport. The airport had only recorded about one-third of the total rainfall, he said. After inputting data from another weather station, near the Bayside Police Department, the existing model results more closely match the measured flows.

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Cutting out the calibration of the sanitary sewer model would save $2,200 from the proposed contract amendment, but those savings could be offset by the cost of consultants hosting three additional public information meetings at the Village Board’s request.

The other suggested revisions to the Donohue contract remain the same, as the consultants still need to update the sanitary sewer model, basement storage needs to be added, and it needs to be linked to an overhauled storm sewer model.

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While calibration no longer is necessary, the purchase and rental of flow meters still will be necessary for measurement and regulatory reasons. The village was planning to do the flow monitoring beginning in April, regardless of the study.

The Village Board authorized Village Engineer Dan Naze to spend up to $30,000 to purchase or rent meters. Naze proposed to use a combination of five rented meters at $400 per meter per week to start the measuring process and to work with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to purchase at least two meters for $6,000 each for extended use in the village. Some of those costs may be reimbursed by MMSD at a later date.


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