Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Quality topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council discusses manganese concerns, agrees to town-hall planning and resident testing options
Summary
Council reviewed resident concerns about manganese in the water supply, noted prior state testing concluded water was safe to drink, and asked staff to offer individual water testing and prepare an informational session (likely after budget work) explaining costs and funding trade-offs for full treatment solutions.
Residents and council members raised ongoing concerns about elevated manganese in the town’s water. Council discussed whether a new town-hall with the Minnesota Department of Health would produce new information and how the city should communicate test results and costs.
Staff noted the Department of Health previously visited and said the water was safe to drink, and staff confirmed the city posts test results on its website. Public Works staff offered to provide non-certified household testing for residents (the staff-estimated cost discussed in the meeting was $3.99 per test for sample collection/processing by the equipment the city operates), noting those readings are ‘‘ballpark’’ and not from a certified lab.
Council members and staff stressed that a full treatment solution for the groundwater manganese issue could be expensive — "in the tens of millions" — and would likely require a combination of rate increases and tax support; staff said no state funding was currently available that would fully cover such a project. Given budget deadlines and the need for cost scenarios, council members agreed an informational meeting after preliminary budgeting (targeting October) would allow staff to prepare a five- or 10-year cost scenario showing impacts on taxes and rates.
Council directed staff to continue offering resident-level testing information, to post sign-up instructions for testing, and to prepare materials that explain options, cost ranges and tradeoffs so that any town-hall or informational session can present realistic financial scenarios.
Ending: Staff will post testing sign-up information and prepare cost scenarios for council consideration at an upcoming workshop; a public informational session is likely to be scheduled after budget work is underway.
