Members of the committee are traveling across the state to view projects for consideration on the 2026 Capital Investment Bill. New Ulm Public Utilities (NUPU) is request funding to complete a gravity sewer flow system in the city. The lift station on Front Street is last part of the system that needs to be converted into a gravity system.

The Front Street lift station was built in 1974 and requires considerable maintenance and upkeep. Rather then continual fix the aging lift station, NUPU would prefer to decommission it and replace it with a gravity sewer.

New Ulm Public Utilities director Kris Manderfeld said city staff has conducted regular maintenance on the lift station, but at 51 years the facility is reaching the end of life.

Manderfeld said gravity sewer flow systems have already been constructed on the north and south side of New Ulm at a cost of $6.9 million. The middle section of the system is the only part left to be converted to a gravity flow system and represents three blocks.

New Ulm Public Utilities director Kris Manderfeld gave a presentation to the Minnesota House Capital Investment Committee on the need for a gravity sewer to replace the Front Street lift station during the committee’s stop in New Ulm Wednesday. New Ulm Public Utilities is seeking state bonding funds to help complete the city’s gravity sewer project.

“Unfortunately those three blocks are the most costly and they are the deepest,” Manderfeld said. “The sanitary sewer would be about 30 feet in this area.”

The total cost of the project is $4.02 million. NUPU is requesting half of the cost of the project from the state, or $2.01 million in funding to complete the project.

“This is deteriorating rapidly,” Manderfeld said. “This pivotal time with this lift station.”

Currently, maintenance to the lift station is performed through hatch holes rather than accessing the inside of the lift station because of worker safety issues.

There is also a possibility the lift station could fail. Manderfeld said there is no bypass at the lift station. In the event of a failure, waste would be discharge into the Minnesota River, impacting river quality. By completing the gravity sewer project, the city reduces the risk of overflow into the Minnesota River, but it would also allow for the decommission the lift station reducing maintenance costs and electrical usage.

It was noted that a lift station has a higher risk for failure, but gravity rarely fails.

In addition to a gravity system, the project would allow NUPU to replace three blocks of aging water main and storm sewer. Two of the three blocks of water main are made from cast iron material installed in 1897. The other block of the main is from 1937 and is made of asbestos cement.

The gravity sewer and water main are expected to have a life expectancy of 75-100 years compared to 20-40 years of rehabilitating the lift station.

“It’s a much better value, a better use of dollars,” Manderfeld said.

State Senator Gary Dahms and State Rep. Paul Torkelson participated in the stop at the Front Street Lift Station to show support for the project.

“We’ve been working on this for a long time and we are really cautiously confident this is the year we will get it across the finish line,” Torkelson said. “Its a good project for the city, but also protects the river.”

Torkelson believe the protection of the river was a strong selling point for the project. He acknowledged there other projects the committee was reviewing, but he felt the committee would lean toward approving infrastructure projects.