Treatment facility protected during flood

CLINTONVILLE – During the flooding caused by torrential rainfall in Clintonville April 13 and 14, the city had some of the wastewater bypass the city’s wastewater treatment facility to save millions of dollars in damage to the wastewater treatment facility.
Dave Tichinel, utility manager for the city of Clintonville, shared that information with the Clintonville Common Council at a special April 21 council meeting when discussing the flooding event. He said there were five pumps operating around the clock at the wastewater treatment facility. Shawano County and the city of Shawano borrowed pumps to the city of Clintonville.
While Tichinel said he did not want any wastewater to bypass the wastewater treatment facility, he said it was necessary.
“I’m glad we did it, because it saved millions of dollars-worth of our equipment at (the) wastewater [treatment facility],” Tichinel said.
Almost six million gallons of water bypassed the wastewater treatment facility in two and a half days, Tichinel said.

The Clintonville Wastewater Treatment facility is designed to handle 650,000 gallons per day, Tichinel said. He added that in total, around 18 million gallons of wastewater was run through or bypassed the facility.
He added that the only damage sustained at the wastewater treatment facility was a $500 circuit board.
During the flooding event, power was disconnected to the lift station by W.A. Olen Park. After restoring power to the lift station, Tichinel said the lift station once again worked.
“That’s good news for the lift station,” Tichinel said. “We really didn’t have any damage, which I thought we would.”
Tichinel added that throughout the flooding, he was in contact with representatives at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
“Kuddos to my staff, even electric (utility staff) was down at wastewater, it was pretty well everybody was there, we worked 24 hours around the clock for the three days,” Tichinel said.
Also at the council meeting, Clintonville Police Chief Craig Freitag extended his appreciation to the Clintonville Public Works Department and how it operated the dam in Clintonville during the heavy rains.
“Chad Froh was in Monday night (April 13) and he did a great job communicating with us, with Marion, because we were supposed to have a bigger disaster than what it was if the Marion dam breached,” Freitag said.
Clintonville Fire Chief Shane Krueger added that before the Pigeon River began rising, the city’s Public Works Department employees were making sure that the storm sewer drains were not blocked by debris.
“They were running around with equipment at midnight trying to help resolve some of the flooding that was localized and it just continued with all hands-on deck,” Krueger said. “So, it was a long week for all of us, but the cooperation and working together made the accomplishments what they are.”
Justin Mc Auly, director of Clintonville Public Works, told the council that the Public Works Department was currently in an “evaluation period,” as the city was scheduled to meet with representatives from its insurance company and the DNR.
“We are already prepared to probably lose a few things out there,” Mc Auly said.
There were roadway washouts by the American Legion building and by the steel bridge by Olen Park.
“The steel bridge itself is in really bad shape,” Mc Auly said. “We’re waiting for the (Waupaca) county bridge inspector to get around and inspect bridges.”
Mc Auly said the Wisconsin Department of Transportation inspected the Main Street bridge shortly after the storm and flooding so that bridge could be opened for traffic.
In Olen Park, Mc Auly said there was some flood damage to the ADA playground.
Also, the enclosed shelter in the park will be closed for at least two months. He said the inside of the shelter will probably need to be demoed and reinsulated. All the electrical appliances will also need to be replaced.
“There was about 36-40 inches of water in the enclosed shelter,” Mc Auly said. “Right now, there is probably about two inches of sludge on the bottom floor and most of the water has drained out.”