Moorhead City Council

Nancy Edmonds Hanson 

“You’re going to hear a lot of big, scientific words tonight,” Dan Mahli cautioned the Moorhead City Council at Monday’s meeting. “But here’s the basis of what we’re talking about: How are we going to flush in 2040?”
The city manager was introducing a complex, detailed report by Andy Bradshaw, manager of the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Built in 1983, he told the council that major improvements are needed to comply with new state regulations. Increased capacity is also a priority, since the current facility is projected to be able to process what comes through the city’s sewers only until 2040. “Until then, we’re just trying to maintain a functioning facility,” Bradshaw said.
One big issue is the mandate to reduce phosphorus content in processed water ejected into the Red River. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s permit requires compliance by 2030. Moorhead’s current discharge rate of 26 ppm must be reduced to 20 ppm by the deadline.
The wastewater plant manager presented the council with a detailed plan to accomplish that goal, along with other needed upgrades. Its estimated cost: $41.2 million.
How to fund it? The council’s acceptance of the plan, he said, was the first step. After the unanimous vote to do so, the plan will be submitted for Minnesota’s Point Source Implementation grant and Clean Water Revolving Fund bonding. The grant would cover up to $12 million, while the loan would make up the rest of the cost. Other grants could also be pursued.
Bradshaw noted that the planned improvements could raise the wastewater fees charged to city residents by 6.5 to 8%. One factor, he said, is the recent closure of the city’s largest wastewater client, the Anheuser-Busch Agricultural Resources malting plant, which accounted for 10% of its volume. It paid, on average, $1.2 million each year. If that revenue had not ended, he suggested the increase to users would have been more like 3%.
Questioned by council member Nicole Matson, he emphasized that Monday’s approval did not actually initiate construction. It represented only the members’ acceptance of the plan itself, a requirement before it can be submitted for a possible PSI grant and application for CWRF funding.