River Falls council adopts updated water and sewer service-area plans; study flags two near-term sewer upgrades

River Falls City Council on Aug. 12 adopted updated water and sewer service-area plans prepared by Strand and Associates after a presentation from the city’s engineering staff. Chris Binger, senior civil engineer, told the council “the purpose of the service area plans is to take stock of the current condition of the city's water and sewer infrastructure, to plan for maintenance needs for those infrastructure, to determine the potential impacts of future growth on our existing infrastructure and then to plan for the size and location of future infrastructure.” The plans use the 2023 Comprehensive Plan's urban area boundary and a one-mile outboundary to model existing and future demand. The sanitary model identified two interceptors that are at about 50% of their modeled capacity; the study recommends considering upsizing when that threshold is approached. The report lists a Lometi (north) interceptor project slated for design in 2026, construction of the north half in 2027 and the south half in 2028, which would upsize existing 14- to 18-inch pipes to 24 inches. A common interceptor project is shown for design in 2030 with construction in 2031 to upsize existing 24-inch pipes to 36 inches. Binger also summarized the water-plan findings: the consultant projects roughly a 28% increase in daily water-supply demand under future land-use assumptions but concluded the current system should be adequate to meet that demand. The study recommended two more-timely water projects: a new well in the North Zone to provide redundant supply in case the North Booster station fails (recommended for 2028) and a new East Zone water tower near the Highview Meadows area, intended to improve fire flow and pressure (design 2029, construction 2030). The Gulf View Tower repainting was noted as already underway. Council members asked whether any properties inside the city still use private wells or septic systems. Binger said he did not know of any sewers that are not connected within the city limits and that three wells currently are permitted by the Department of Natural Resources, including one used for golf-course irrigation; two other wells serve customers near but not close enough to the city mains. The city administrator noted that the plan update meets DNR review requirements and that individual projects will still require typical CIP programming, design and budgeting. Councilmember Howard Downey moved to adopt the resolution to approve the plans; the motion carried on a voice vote. Discussion (nonbinding) during the meeting included staff noting that several projects in the study are maintenance only, others are needed only if future annexations occur, and staff will attempt to coordinate crossings if the Kinney Corridor project moves forward so work can be done “in the dry” while a partner agency is crossing the Kinney River. The adopted plans will be used to inform capital cost studies tied to annexation requests, future CIP entries and rate-case projections.