The Village Utility Commission approved a construction agreement with the developers of the Coil South and Pine Meadows Farm properties to build a sanitary sewer interceptor and awarded the construction contract to Gerke Construction, the low bidder. The agreement as presented includes developer reimbursements and limits village borrowing for the project.

The construction agreement presented to the commission calls for reimbursement terms to the village: one developer would receive $200,000 after substantial completion; another developer would reimburse $139,000 one year after completion for its portion of the sanitary sewer interceptor. Those amounts reflect each developer’s share of manhole costs, the upsizing from an 8-inch to an 18-inch sewer main, and other negotiated components. The agreement also requires that sanitary sewer laterals and other on-site work for the future buildings be paid 100% by the developers. A staff presentation said developers will provide good granular backfill from on-site sources where available; if not, they may import material from other permitted sites they control.

Commissioners were told the project provides relief to the existing system and, compared with earlier estimates, reduces the previously stated user-impact figure (originally presented as $121,000) to about $85,000. A staff member said the project will be funded with cash rather than by issuing debt. Bids opened Sept. 11 produced seven responses; Gerke Construction of Tomah submitted the low bid at about $1.3 million, and staff recommended moving forward with Gerke.

The commission voted by voice to approve the construction agreement as drafted and to award the farm interceptor project to Gerke Construction, with final language to be adjusted by the village attorney. The record shows voice approvals with at least one abstention noted during the votes; the transcript does not identify the abstaining member by name.

Why it matters: the interceptor is intended to expand sewer capacity for the Coil South/Pine Meadows development and to reduce load on the existing system while minimizing direct borrowing by the village.

The commission also heard that a related sanitary sewer agreement with a second nearby developer (described in the packet as a separate reimbursement arrangement) was simplified from a previously considered TID-related approach to a direct sanitary interceptor reimbursement of $139,000.

No litigation, bonding, or detailed schedule beyond the bid award was adopted at the meeting; staff indicated start-up and construction scheduling will follow procurement and final contract execution.