The Owen Sewer Commission held a short meeting on Thursday, May 23 to discuss an issue on 4th Street and the CMAR (Compliance Maintenance Annual Report) for 2023.

DPW Chad Smith explained the issue with a sinkhole on 4th Street east of the Woodland. He had Haas Sons Inc. televise it. There were numerous laterals running in all directions and they were full of gravel. It is believed that one of the laterals goes to the Frontier building and one went to a building on the corner of 4th and Pine that was torn down. The other laterals appear to be abandoned but not capped off. The line has been cleared but not permanently fixed. VisuSewer will come in and line it for a cost of $23,393. As part of this, the line will be televised, checked to see which laterals are actually being used, and measured so those can be cut out after the pipe is lined. Withee also has a project and VisuSewer has agreed to split their mobilization fee between the two communities if both jobs are done at the same time.

Smith asked the city’s engineer for a price to repair that section of the road. The engineer came back with a price of $350,000 to do the entire road. Smith just plans to repair what needs doing after the issue causing the sinkhole is fixed. His plan is to cut and patch the blacktop next year after it has settled over the winter. The funds to pay for the lining of the sewer pipe will come from the Sewer Replacement Account. The expenditure was approved.

Smith said he has been building up the balance in the Sewer Replacement Account and needs to keep a certain amount there as eventually the Wastewater Treatment Plant will need an upgrade and if they can get an 80/20 grant, he will have the funds for his portion of the upgrade.

The score for the CMAR Report was 3.95 on a 4.00 scale. The reason was because of certifications that the DNR is now requiring wastewater operators to have. A grade of C was received for that portion of the report. DPW Smith has gotten his Advanced Certification this year and that will be reflected in a better grade on next year’s report. Operator Matt Bottlemy is also working on additional certifications. The Commission approved the CMAR Report which now needs to be approved by the Owen Common Council.