Rebuilding lift station, fixing streets
By Scott Bellile
The New London City Council approved three public works projects that will occur on the east side of town, including the first roadwork to be funded with the recently implemented wheel tax.
The first item is a $404,900 project to demolish and reconstruct a city sanitary sewer lift station located at the corner of Beacon Avenue and Montgomery Street.
The current structure requires frequent maintenance and uses excessive electricity. The wet well is not large or deep enough to handle increased flows from East Ridge Drive and the recently constructed Beacon Avenue Cottages.
PTS Contractors Inc. of Green Bay was awarded the project as the lowest bidder. Other contractors that bid were Advance Construction Inc. of Green Bay at $472,900 and Pember Companies Inc. of Menomonie at $538,000.
The money to cover this project will come from the city wastewater treatment plant’s funds.
Ben Greuel, chief operator of the wastewater treatment plant, said at a New London Board of Public Works meeting earlier this month that construction is anticipated to begin this fall.
The two other public works projects approved are street improvements at two Canadian National railroad crossings on High Street and Industrial Loop Road.
The city council approved hiring McMahon Associates at a cost of $15,000 to design plans to reconstruct the pavement surrounding the crossings.
That is only the cost of engineering the project. McMahon estimated fixing the two crossings could cost $118,000, but City Administrator Kent Hager said the amount will depend on where the bids come in.
“Does that deplete quite a bit of the wheel tax money?” Second District Alderman Tom O’Connell asked, referring to the municipal registration fee that will fund the repairs around the railroad crossings.
New London Public Services Director Chad Hoerth said the city expects to receive around $180,000 a year in wheel tax dollars from vehicle owners, so therefore an estimated $60,000 would be left over in 2018 wheel tax revenues to use on other street repair projects.
The city is looking at repairing House Road as another project funded by the wheel tax, Hoerth said, but that has not been finalized. City officials are working with town of Liberty officials to determine a cost-sharing plan because both municipalities have jurisdiction over portions of the road.
Other approvals
The New London City Council approved the following items unanimously on June 12:
• A resolution awarding the sale of $3.08 million in general obligation corporate purpose bonds to D.A. Davidson of Denver, Colorado, at an interest rate of 3.14 percent. The bonds will cover the Division Street reconstruction and New London Aquatic and Fitness Center mechanical system upgrades occurring this year.
• A resolution awarding the sale of $3.4 million in sewer, electric water system mortgage revenue bonds to Bernardi Securities Inc. out of Chicago at a 3.53 percent interest rate. The bonds will help finance a well project.
• A contract with Hoffman Cemetery Services of New London to provide grass and vegetation cutting services to the city at a rate of $38 per hour.
• The second and final reading of an amendment to a city ordinance that changes the location for filing candidacy papers for New London-Weyauwega Joint Municipal Judge from the city clerk’s office to the Waupaca County Clerk’s Office.
• An amendment to a city ordinance that states boats are limited to parking a maximum of 48 hours per week at the new fishing dock by St. John’s Park. Mooring is already limited to 48 hours per week at other city docks.
• A resolution to officially name Starlight Drive with that spelling. The street used to be in the jurisdictions of both the city of New London’s and the town of Mukwa. Sometimes the road was spelled “Starlite” and other times it was labeled a “court.” Now the city has jurisdiction over the entire street and this resolution guarantees consistency in spelling.