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Posted: Monday, November 30, 2009 4:54 pm
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Walz tours stimulus-funded project

County News/Ruth Ann Hager

Congressman Tim Walz, right, talks with Waseca director of utilities Carl Sonnenberg outside of the city's wastewater treatment plant Monday morning.

By RUTH ANN HAGER
Staff Writer


WASECA — Grove and Carol Brown are looking forward to the end of sewer back-up in the basement of their Waseca home.

Terry Mittelsteadt and Jeremy Hutchens have new jobs at the site of the city’s new wastewater treatment plant.

Waseca mayor Roy Srp invited them to city hall Monday to learn more about the projects that are impacting their lives and to meet U.S. Congressman Tim Walz, who was in town to see the projects firsthand.

Srp said the congressman’s work on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in Congress helped Waseca secure $6 million of the $16.1 million project to install new sewer pipelines and to build a new wastewater sewer treatment plant.

Hutchens and Mittelsteadt got two of the 32 city of Waseca construction jobs created as the result of ARRA.

It is the largest number of jobs reported by the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority on projects it funded.

From May 27, 2009 to Sept. 19, 2009, those 32 jobs produced 20,955 hours of work and a payroll of $828,026.

Hutchens said he was unemployed so, for him, the job meant that he was able to get back to work.

Mittelstaedt said he is a single father whose construction work ends in the winter.

“Without this job, I would have been on some kind of line, unemployment or welfare,” he said.

Walz, First District-Democrat, credited city leaders with planning ahead, having the project and the engineering ready to go. He said he is proud to be a part of that effort because of the impact it has on people’s lives. In addition, he said, taxpayers have the right to know where their dollars are being spent. He called the wastewater treatment projects a “smart use of taxpayer dollars.”



Carol Brown thanked Walz for “this wonderful gift to our community.”

“It’s unbelievable,” she said, adding that she had cried many times when water filled their basement.

Srp told the Browns that, while he can’t promise the improvements will end their problems, the intent of the projects is to keep sewers from backing up in basements, to keep overflow from going into Clear Lake and to stop the flooding of Waseca streets and neighborhoods.

And because of the $6 million in federal loan funds, the city is able to decrease the sewer rates raised to pay for the projects, Srp said.

Carl Sonnenberg, director of utilities for the city, said the project not only removes the current sewer problems but also prepares for the future because the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has the authority to prohibit sewer extensions.

With the new facility, Sonnenberg said the MPCA “watchdog need goes away.”

The first part of the project, which increases the size of pipes from town to the treatment plant, is expected to be finished by the end of 2009 and operational in the spring, he said.

The second part, improving treatment to MPCA standards, will be completed by August 2011, Sonnenberg said.

The loan funding for the project was put together through the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority’s Clean Water Revolving Fund. This fund receives a regular appropriation from the federal government, however, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allowed them to increase their investment in Minnesota community wastewater and drinking water systems by almost 400 percent. Waseca received a $9.8 million PFA loan for 20 years at 2.63% interest.

“Revitalizing our infrastructure is critical to future economic growth in our region and this sewer and wastewater treatment upgrade will help make those opportunities available to Waseca,” said Walz.


Ruth Ann Hager is at 507- 837-5446 or rhager@wasecacountynews.com.
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Member Opinions:
By: Caddyman on 12/2/09
Im suprised he didn't kiss a baby on camera too..... Jobs were created all over this great nations in congressional districts that dont exist anywhere..... thats our new Administrations way of saying, ha ha gotcha again!!

By: forwhatitsworth on 12/2/09
Franklin and Unrealone, you right on the money. Most of the city of Waseca was a valuable wetland. Don't cry about your wet basements when you buy a home near a lake in a swamp.

By: Unrealone on 12/1/09
well, build your homes in an area of old swamps. Then base your survival on electric sump pumps and then cross your fingers it all works.

By: Franklin on 12/1/09
It's nice when the monopoly money the Walz voted for get's thrown our way. What a wonderful way to buy some votes. Now if he could only pick my Dr. and then help me to pay more to his climate change crusade. Maybe the couple of new jobs created will help lower the avg cost of $303k per new job created. The only difference between Pelosi and Walz is the botox.


 
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