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NEW ULM-- Potential assistance in future flooding events was approved by City Council Tuesday.
The New Ulm City Council unanimously approved a contract with Bolton & Menk for $148,500 to design a storm sewer lift station at 18th South Street and the Minnesota Levee. This will include surveying the area, designing the lift station, and developing and supporting the construction plan.
This request is contingent on the city receiving FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Funding for the construction of the lift station. City Engineer Joe Stadheim described the hazardous situation in previous years.
"The city is required to close the floodgates to prevent river flood water from coming back in to the protected side of the levee," he said. "When this occurs, our street department personnel close the floodgates and set up portable pumps to pump snow melt and storm sewer runoff from the protected side of the levee to the riverside. There have been many instances where staff has almost lost equipment due to the amount of snow melt and or rainwater on the protected side of the levee."
Stadheim said these problems will be taken care of with the lift station in place. He applied for funding with Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar and the project was selected to receive $1.125 million of the $1.5 million the project will cost. However, this funding is included in a bill that will not be heard until Congress returns to session in September.
After City Council President Andrea Boettger thanked Stadheim for his hard work in attempting to secure funding for this issue, City Councilman Les Schultz asked why this was a matter going straight to the city council and not to the public utilities commission.
"The sewer system is ours." Stadheim replied.
"Should it be?" Schultz asked. "It seems like it fits more in their world than it does in our world."
"I'm not aware of a private utility that has the storm sewer system, it's generally the municipalities," Stadheim answered. "We take care of all the stormwater permits. The city is the permanent agency."
After thanking Stadheim for his work, City Councilman Eric Warmka made the motion to award the contact to Bolton & Menk contingent on funding being passed in Congress later this year. City Councilman Dave Christian seconded the motion.