The state DNR would like the Boyd Wastewater Treatment Plant to make some upgrades to the facility in the northeast corner of town, and the Village of Boyd is dedicated to accomplishing these, as the budget allows. Details were touched on at the recent village board meeting for October.

“I told her right in the report, if you want to give us money I’d be glad to take it,” Streets and Utilities department head Tom Grunewald said of any funding from the DNR for the village’s sewer plant. Someone else had recommended that four additional pumps be added, one for each tank. Grunewald had looked into this and it would cost the village $92,000. The bigger thing to take care of was covering the tanks, especially from inclement weather. Before the wastewater update, though, there was public comment to be heard: what about snow and mailboxes?

“Concerns of the public, Bill,” President Randy Setzer said in the regular meeting. “Here to yell at us about something?”

“No,” said Bill. “I have a question to ask.” The village clean-up notice had come in the mail and said in part that mailboxes were the homeowner’s responsibility as far as snow was concerned.

“Well the county plows about five, six feet—or they leave five or six feet,” Bill said. “Maybe a couple days later they’ll come and clean it up. I measured it one time last winter, and I was out six feet with the snowblower trying to clear out to my mailbox.” Setzer turned to Grunewald, asking if the issue hadn’t come up last year.

“Was that something last year we were looking at closer?” Setzer asked. “Because that’s been a common issue, hasn’t it Bill?”

“The problem with it is my wing won’t get under the mailboxes,” Grunewald said of the plow.

“Didn’t they used to though Tom?” Bill asked.

“Yeah, but my wing, I’ll clip ‘em all,” Grunewald said. “I try to get as close as I can…we’ll watch it,” he said of the mailbox issue. Meanwhile down at the municipal wastewater treatment plant the DNR had come up with a few suggestions to improve the site.

“Ok, item seven,” Setzer said later in the regular meeting. “We’re going to talk about the wastewater treatment plant building and update.” Grunewald said he had gotten a price for the recommended pump work that had come out to $92,000, but that coverings were the biggest thing to worry about at the plant.

“I think the DNR’s more concerned about getting the covering on the tanks,” he said, referencing a conversation with the DNR official assigned to the area. “So we were talking about getting a price on getting a covering on it,” Grunewald went on. “And then the PLC for the sewer plant, there are some boards in there that are totally gone.” Prescription for optimal plant operations? Upgrade! Slowly but surely, the wastewater treatment plant could be made to meet DNR expectations and avoid fines. As of the present though, there wasn’t exactly a boatload of cash to address the issue. Circling back to the plant’s top covering, Setzer noted as a long-time member of the village board that back when the plant was originally built, the covering in question had been taken out of the plant design in an attempt to cut costs. That wasn’t ideal. “You think about it, it’s open to the rain, snow, and it’s all got nitrates in it,” Grunewald said. “What me and Bob (LaMarche) were talking about was getting a price from somebody on just going on top of the tank…just going on there and putting enough so we can get in there and we’re not hitting our head,” Grunewald said of the covering. “Putting the doors on the four exits, the PLC, and SCADA.”

“As long as we show them we’re working towards it,” Trustee Tom McQuillan offered. “When it comes to budget we’ll have to allow something for this year.” Consensus being reached, it was on to other business. The budget for next year is yet to be presented.

Staff photo.