Marshfield hears stormwater plan, council authorizes grant application work with Strand Associates

Marshfield officials heard a presentation on proposals to meet state total maximum daily load (TMDL) requirements for total phosphorus and approved hiring a consultant to prepare a stormwater planning grant application.

John Leonard, a consultant with Strand Associates, summarized the 2023 citywide stormwater management plan and the Wisconsin River Basin TMDL findings, saying the plan shows a roughly 2,351-pound total-phosphorus reduction gap the city must close. "At this point... design and construction of BMPs within the city and some level of water quality trading are going to be necessary to gain compliance," Leonard told the council. Acting Public Works Director Josh Moritz introduced the discussion and said the items in the plan feed a capital-improvement program the city must update periodically.

The presentation outlined alternatives including constructed best-management practices (BMPs) such as wet ponds, increased street sweeping, leaf-collection credits, and water-quality trading on agricultural land. Leonard said a preferred implementation (alternative 2) included multiple structural BMPs and ag trading at an estimated 20-year cost of about $17,500,000 (present-worth), roughly $373 per pound of phosphorus removed. He also described the policy context, including 2013 Wisconsin Act 20 provisions that affect whether a stormwater utility would require a levy reduction or a referendum.

After questions from aldermen about liability, staffing, and distributional effects, the council considered a recommendation to authorize Strand Associates to prepare and submit a DNR Urban Nonpoint Source Planning Grant application and associated task order. The motion (mover: Alderman Tompkins; second: Alderman Giles) asked the city to execute a task order with Strand for grant application services not to exceed $9,900. The motion passed. "We continue on and really what this is...is to try to tap into more DNR urban nonpoint source grant funds for construction of some of these stormwater BMPs," Leonard said earlier during the presentation.

Council members asked for follow-up modeling and examples to show how rates or tax shifts could affect different parcel types if a stormwater utility were later pursued. Leonard and Moritz said a feasibility study would update impervious-area calculations, estimate potential rates, and model shifts between property-tax funding and utility charges.

The council will pursue the planning grant application as an initial, grant-funded step toward detailed feasibility work and potential utility design; if funded, the work would feed later design, grant, and construction phases outlined in the implementation schedule.