New Water details $41 million clarifier rehab and projects that will raise municipal user fees

Tom Sigman, executive director of New Water, and incoming executive director Nate Qualls presented the utility’s facilities plan and a 2025 draft budget to the Suamico Village Board on Dec. 2.

Sigman said the Green Bay North Plant clarifier rehabilitation is a $41 million capital project. The North Plant has 12 clarifiers in continuous operation since 1975; two are nearing completion and work will pause for winter with an aggressive schedule aimed at finishing the rehabilitation in 2026. Sigman said New Water has three projects under construction and larger projects, including Green Bay Pumping and Headworks, under design to address aging infrastructure and capacity needs.

Qualls and Sigman summarized a 2021 facility plan that estimated $310 million to $480 million in capital investment across treatment facilities over 20 years (figures stated in 2021 dollars). To fund those needs, New Water’s analysis projects municipal user fees rising roughly 5.5% (the utility’s average projection was 5½%–7% in prior years). For Suamico specifically, New Water showed a 2.4% budget‑to‑budget increase in the draft 2025 numbers presented to the board.

To illustrate household impact, New Water said the typical Suamico household’s share of New Water service would be about $27 per month under the draft budget — about $1.16 more than the 2024 budget, according to the presentation.

Board members focused questions on inflow and infiltration (I&I), the additional wet‑weather flow that strains systems. New Water said a technical memo identifies a cost‑effective balance if roughly a 10% I&I reduction is achieved in the most leaky areas; that 10% was described as a modelled “low point” in a total‑cost curve comparing the expense of pure I&I remediation to the expense of simply upsizing treatment capacity. New Water representatives emphasized that meaningful savings require coordinated efforts across municipalities served by the utility; ‘‘it’s going to take everybody contributing to that effort,’’ Sigman said.

New Water also described several cost‑saving moves: short loan deferrals that reduced customer costs in long‑term modeling and incentives and matching funds for a thickening project that New Water said will save ratepayers about $300,000 over 20 years. Sigman and Qualls warned of uncertainty around contractor and consultant availability that could affect project timelines and could push some communities toward higher ends of projected fee increases.

Sigman announced a leadership transition: Qualls will become executive director on Jan. 23; Sigman said he will stay through Jan. 7 and then retire.

The board did not take formal action on New Water’s presentation but asked follow‑up questions; New Water representatives said they will continue to work with the technical advisory committee and municipalities to refine the I&I approach and timing.