ATVs still under review in New London
By Robert Cloud
The city of New London may charge a user fee for the high strength waste that food processing facilities and septic haulers often generate.
The Public Works Board voted June 1 in favor of amending the city’s ordinance to charge $30 to process 1,000 gallons of wastewater with more than 10,000 milligrams per liter of total suspended solids.
Normal wastewater from residential areas has no more than 150 milligrams per liter.
New London currently charges users’ fees of $9.34 per 1,000 gallons.
To help fund the $4.7 million reconstruction of a digester, users’ fees were increased from $5.84 to $9.34 per 1,000 gallons.
The Beast
Greuel told board members the city was having problems with its high-strength waste receiving equipment.
The product name for the equipment is The Beast. It has a screened drum that removes fibrous materials from the wastewater.
Greuel said the equipment requires water flow of 30 gallons per minute to adequately clean the drum and prevent clogging, but the city’s water flow is below 20 gallons per minute.
The city is working with the engineering firm and the supplier to determine who is responsible for the costs to fix the problem.
Mill Street sewer upgrades
Hoerth said the Outagamie Highway Department plans to mill and recover County Trunk T from U.S. Highway 45 north to Beacon Street and Beacon Street west to Division Street.
The county’s road work is planned for 2022.
The city of New London plans to upgrade its sewer mains in 2021, prior to the road construction.
Estimated costs to upgrade the sewer mains ranged from at least $790,000 to $580,000.
Under the worst-case scenario, the city needs to replace all the pipes in a full-scale construction project at the higher cost.
However, it is possible some of the pipes may only need new lining installed at a lower cost.
The Public Works Board agreed to recommend that the city contract with McMahon Engineering and Architects for a survey of the sewer mains to determine what upgrades are needed with the sewer mains.
ATVs discussed
Police Chief Jeffrey Schlueter updated the board on his research into permitting ATVs and UTVs on city streets.
Schlueter said he talked to Lt. Marcus Stone, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) warden who specializes in ATV issues.
He said most of the cities that allow ATVs are smaller, with between 3,000 and 4,000 people, are located in rural areas and do not allow ATVs on all streets.
“Most of these places have not taken into consideration rules of the road versus rules of ATVs and UTVs,” Schlueter said.
“For example, right now, you can have a UTV being driven by a person with five OWIs, with a revoked license and he can drive with an open intoxicant anywhere that’s a designated route,” Schlueter added.
While the driver of a car with multiple OWI convictions is restricted to a .02 BAC, the driver of an all-terrain vehicle is restricted to a .08 BAC, Schlueter said.
Schlueter said a 2018 bill to prohibit operating an ATV with open intoxicants failed to pass the legislature.
He also received a letter indicating the DNR will not give an opinion on whether municipalities can pass ATV/UTV rules that are more restrictive than state law.
“They don’t want to get in the middle of a legal battle,” Schlueter said.
He recommended the city wait to obtain more answers from its attorneys.
Proponents for allowing ATVs and UTVs on city streets compared the all-terrain vehicles to motorcycles, noting all sorts of vehicles should be allowed to use public roadways.
“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” said Jeff Hoffman. “This whole thing is just stalling out of fear.”