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Madison approves water‑use agreement with Minnehaha Community Water Corporation and authorizes water‑plant repairs
Summary
The commission approved a water‑use/purchase agreement allowing Minnehaha Community Water Corporation to use Madison's unused Lewis & Clark allocation and authorized reserve spending for well rehabilitation and filter media cleaning at the city water treatment plant.
The Madison commission voted to approve a water‑use and purchase agreement that permits Minnehaha Community Water Corporation (MCWC) to use portions of Madison’s unused Lewis & Clark allocation, and separately authorized repairs and equipment spending at the municipal water treatment plant.
City staff explained that Madison currently holds a 1 million gallons per day allocation from the Lewis & Clark system and does not anticipate using the full amount for several years; MCWC has a larger allocation and is seeking additional capacity. Staff illustrated an example split (60% Madison / 40% MCWC for capacity charges) and said the capacity charge is a flat $19,840 under the illustration. Staff presented estimated effective rates showing that if Madison used 25% of its reserve capacity without the agreement the effective rate would be $3.29 per 1,000 gallons, while under the proposed arrangement the illustrative rate would be $1.37 per 1,000 gallons. The agreement term as presented would continue through Dec. 30, 2035, with automatic one‑year renewals thereafter until either party terminates.
Commissioners voiced general support, asked about current daily usage (staff estimated about 300,000 gallons per day under a wheeling plan) and discussed how an agreement would allow the city flexibility during repairs by continuing to secure a continuous supply. The commission approved the water‑use and purchase agreement by voice vote.
On water plant repairs, staff requested use of reserves to cover two items: rehabilitation work on Well No. 23 (budgeted in the current year, staff requested up to $15,000 from reserves for liquidity) and chemical cleaning of filter media across four filters. Staff said replacing all media would cost about $140,000 but the successful test cleaning on one filter indicated a chemical process would restore media at a substantially lower cost; staff asked for authorization to spend up to $35,000 from the plant equipment repair reserve. Commissioners discussed reserve levels and replenishment through the next budget and approved the reserve spending by voice vote.
Both actions were approved in separate motions.
