Sewer plant price tag $9M

by Nathan Arneal
Published 6/14/23

The North Bend City Council has zeroed in on a plan to replace its 56-year-old sewer plant and is exploring options to fund it.

The new sewer plant, which will involve a system of lagoons, will cost an estimated $7 million. This is the least expensive of the six options the city was presented by JEO, the city’s engineers.

Prior to building a new plant, the city will have to make repairs on its current system of sewer mains and lift stations in town. In some places the pipes are cracked and groundwater is seeping in. Those repairs are estimated at $2 million, bringing the total cost of the project to $9 million.

According JEO, debt service on the new plant and repair projects would cost North Bend around $397,000 a year. The new plant would also save an estimated $15,000 a year in operating costs, for a total expense of $382,000 a year.

To pay for that solely from monthly user fees, sewer rates would have to be increased $58.62, according to JEO estimates. However, the city is exploring grants and other financing options so monthly usage fees do not increase that much.

Anthony Guenther of the U.S. Department of Agriculture was at the June 6 meeting to discuss some of those options. He said he thinks there will be some grant money out there for North Bend.

JEO has been telling North Bend for years that its rates were too low. One estimate said North Bend’s sewer rate was $90 too low. Currently the combined water and sewer rates are around $50 to $60. North Bend recently raised its sewer and water fees $5 each, and another rate hike is likely on the horizon.

“I know that’s tough to say,” councilman Alex Legge said, “but we are so far behind the curve, and we have a long way to go in not too long of time.”

In other council business at the June 6 meeting:

• Five people who have not yet licensed their dogs have been sent to the Dodge County Sheriff’s office for citation.

• Approval was given for a temporary stop sign on 11th Street at Catalpa Street across from the elementary school. That area has seen an increase in traffic coming off Cemetery Road because of Main Street being closed from the north.

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