Joint Meeting Notes: Helmsburg and Brown County RSD, Aug 24, 2023.  This post shared at Brown County Matters.

Sewer expansion project – Background info: The proposed $50.5 million Phase 1 Project included a western corridor (Helmsburg to Lake Lemon) and an Eastern Corridor (Helmsburg to Bean Blossom to Woodland Lake). Helmsburg RSD is to process the wastewater and the BCRSD is to collect the wastewater from new customers.

Responses to questions from the Public Hearing are expected to be available via the BCRSD website, within the next two weeks. The quality of the responses and any proposed changes will help determine the scope and success of future projects. The questions and comments are primarily related to the BCRSD wastewater collection project. There was no opposition to the Helmsburg project to replace their current plant to include the capability for expansion

Great news! Congratulations to the HRSD Board. The Helmsburg RSD has received approval with a high priority this year to build a needed new plant in “Helmsburg”  to replace their current aging plant. Cost is currently estimated at around 9 million. Any additional projects will be considered next year. This project will support their existing customer base. The project, with grants, is expected to lower the monthly customer sewer bill which is currently at $92.50. The plant will be designed to handle 100,000 gallons of wastewater with the capability to expand to handle another 100 – 200K gallons at a future date. The estimate to handle the volume for the Phase I ($50.5 million) Plan is 300K gallons.

Funding Strategies. Projects estimated in the $6-7 million range currently have the highest priority in getting grant money. The grants are needed to keep the rates low. Projects exceeding this amount can receive additional funding via low to no-interest loans.

Future Expansion. Given the guidance on keeping future projects in the $6-7 million range, the next stage of the project is to add more customers. A current expectation is that the priority should be adding the customers in the western corridor – Helmsburg to Lake Lemon. The expectation for the Brown County RSD may be to add one or more areas in the eastern corridor (Helmsburg to Bean Blossom to Woodland Lake) as soon as possible.