At the June 3 Hastings City Council meeting, City Administrator Dan Wietecha gave an update on the state of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in city water, discussing sources of funding for the three treatment plants proposed in the city.
“The biggest thing that happened in the last month was the legislative session ending without a bonding bill,” said Wietecha.
Lacking legislative support, the City Council is reviewing other sources of funding for the first treatment plant which will be located in the city industrial park. Other sources of funding include increasing water rates for residents as well as potentially securing funds from the state Drinking Water Revolving Fund (DWRF).
Wietecha estimates that if the city were to raise water rates for residents, prices would increase 35-40% just for phase one of the project, with further increases to occur with the subsequent two phases. These potential rate increases would begin in January 2025.
As a potential alternative source of funding, the city could secure a loan from the State of Minnesota DWRF, which is designed to provide, “below market rate loans for public water system improvements,” according to their website. The City of Hastings had previously sent an application for the first phase to the DWRF’s Project Priority List (PPL) in May 2023. The PPL is a list of projects across the state that are ranked based on factors including public health protection, adequate water supply, and financial need according to their website. Getting a project on the PPL is the first step towards receiving state funds from the DWRF.
Unfortunately, due to an error in review and scoring from the DWRF that was only discovered in January of this year, the city application was scored lower than it should have been.
According to Wietecha, despite that error, the PPL is only a list of projects that might get funding and thus the error, “did not keep us from funding.”
The city has reapplied for both phase one and two to the DWRF with scores expected to be received in the fall.
“Depending on scoring, we could be eligible to receive emergent containment grants currently capped at $3 million for each of those phases,” said Wietecha.
At the meeting, there was also discussion of delaying phase one in order to find alternate sources of funding and to pause on the proposed treatment plant potentially located on Wallin Park which received pushback at the Wallin Park neighborhood meeting on the topic. According to the reporting of Journal publisher John McLoone, the concerns raised about the Wallin Park treatment plant included the size of the building, effects on property values in the area and the impact on park activities.
Councilor Lisa Leifeld proposed a 90-day pause on phase one in order to rethink placing treatment plants in parks.
“I don’t believe that was how our public parks were founded. I don’t think that was the intention. I don’t think that was the plan,” said Leifeld.
For more information on PFAS as well as the city’s response to them, visit the city’s PFAS FAQ page at: https://www.hastingsmn.gov/city-government/city-departments/public-works-and-engineering/water-supply-management/pfas/pfas-faqs