During a raging rainstorm the night of April 4, the Northfield City Council’s approvals were flowing fast and furious.

Justin Wagner, utilities manager for the city of Northfield and Seth Peterson, principle environmental engineer for Bolton & Menk, Inc., presented more evidence as to why the drinking water treatment plant project should progress. Council members heard the pair discuss how gravity filtration with reverse osmosis would remove the manganese found in Northfield’s drinking water.

City engineering staff is proposing a new water treatment plant at $33.5 million, but it hopes to see that cost to the city reduced through grants.

The benefits of constructing the new water treatment plant include removing the hardness in the water that often leaves a while scaly ring around a facet, saving residents money without paying for a water softener, and ultimately, residents would use less water, approximately 2,500-4,000 gallons of water a year.

“Also, by removing chloride, we would be future-proofing our system,” Wagner said.

Of the three sites proposed for the new plant, input from residents recommend narrowing the choice to two: Hall Avenue and south of Maple Street.

That would eliminate the third site, which is south of Spring Creek Elementary, mainly because the cons outweigh the pros on the city owned property near the much-used high school athletic fields.

According to the survey results, the Spring Creek site was shown to be the least preferable with 64% negative rating. The most preferred site, with 61%, was Hall Street.

While user rates would increase 28.5% over the next four years from $14.70 this year to $40.09 in 2026, Wagner said they were seeking federal money to reduce costs to users. He referred to a chart comparing Northfield with comparable cities, which showed that Faribault, St. Peter and Mankato, all cities with more filtration rates, had water costs around $40 a month.

Wagner reported that the two open houses held virtually Feb. 24 and in person March 3 were successful, as was the survey with 127 total responses and comments included in the appendix of the study.

Three action steps remain: The council passes the water system study; the city moves forward on negotiating with property owners; and engineers begin to design layouts and renderings, he said.

Councilor Suzie Nakasian asked about the timing of the project. Wagner replied the next step would be to apply for grant funding, particularly the request for funding 75% of the cost, leaving the cost at about $8 million.

“We don’t have a a timeline on that,” said Peterson. “The typical bonding cycles end in May, but the grant for removing manganese could come in before September.”

Councilor Nakasian said, “It sounds like you’d like to move forward without the grant funds?” To which Wagner said “Yes, that is our intention.”

Mayor Rhonda Pownell asked about similar facilities built. Wagner replied that the Minnesota Department of Health has a new grant to remove manganese.

“They love the Northfield project and they are willing to give money to the city with the highest manganese levels so that looks favorable for us,” he said.

Councilor Nakasian asked, if Northfield got that grant, would it impact the pricing structure? Wagner said the city would update the user rate.

Councilor Jami Reister asked if the pair could review the health update for Northfield families. Wagner explained that manganese found in infants 1 year old and younger, could potentially cause HDHD or ADD. He said high levels of manganese were also not recommended for pregnant women or for mixing with baby formula.

Councilor Jessica Peterson White asked if home filtering systems can remove all the nitrates. Wagner said the levels would have to be tested.

“Homeowners would have the ability to do that, but renters would not,” she said. 

Councilor George Zuccolotto asked if the new system would prohibit nitrates in our drinking water. Wagner said yes, noting that nitrates, PFAS and other emerging contaminants would be blocked.

Mayor Pownell asked if the Northfield Utility department had reached out to other partners, like Rice County public health or Northfield Hospital + Clinic. Wagner said he would do that this week.

Councilor Brad Ness asked how many gallons are in a cubic feet, to which Wagner replied immediately, “7.48.” Everyone laughed, acknowledging the engineer’s expertise.

Peterson White, Nakasian and Reister all praised the water engineers for their work on such an important issue for all city residents.

“I view this as an environmental justice issue to ensure we all have safe drinking water,” said Peterson White.

“This is a sign for consumers that clean water can help households conserve water,” Nakasian said. “This has been educational for us all.”

“Even though the price tag is huge, this is a health and equity issue,” said Reister. “I’m optimistic we can find grants, not just for the end product but for the grant money to flow in — no pun intended—- to be better for the environment and for residents.”

“I am heartened by the comments coming from around the table,” said Mayor Pownell.

The resolution passed unanimously.

Spending American Rescue Act Funds

Brenda Angelstad, financial director, reported that last year Northfield received $1.3 million from the American Rescue Act and will likely receive the same amount this year. The city can chose how to spend the money, she said.

Councilor Ness moved to approve a resolution to accept the funds, and Councilor Reister seconded. The motion passed.

In another motion, Angelstad listed the items the ARA advisory committee recommended spending on, including funds for K95 face masks, protecting signage, the salary for the Spanish interpreter, and updating the interior of City Hall.

“That still leaves 50% of the funds unspent,” she said.

The proposal before the council was to apply those remaining funds to approving the contract for Enterprise Resource Planning, which would upgrade the old system for city procedures.

Councilor Reister asked if residents would see an upgrade with more efficient systems. Angelstad replied that reporting would be enhanced especially for the Community Development Department.

“Anyone who applies and pays for a permit, which is not a patchwork system, would see an improved method,” she said.

City Administrator Ben Martig said this upgraded system was long overdue.

“When I came here in 2016, our accounting system seemed lacking,” he said. “We would have done a better job handling COVID if we would have had this new system in place.”

The council passed the motion to approve the funding to modernize the financial planning systems.

Martig delivered his administrative update with the news that the internet outage on Tuesday, April 5 was caused by Charter doing some tree removals in Castle Rock. The internet outage stretched from mid-morning until about 5 p.m. before engineers could get the system back online.

Martig said the April 19 agenda would involve the next steps of the Kraewood development project and Rice County rezoning.

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Originally Appeared Here