The city of Monticello, Minnesota, is moving forward with a $45 million plan to modernize its water treatment plant. The project is designed to remove iron and manganese from its municipal drinking water, with construction expected to begin in June.
Monticello’s tap water currently complies with all applicable drinking water standards, but manganese concentrations in the city’s municipal wells exceed the levels the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) considers safe. The agency has warned in recent years about the health risks associated with elevated manganese in drinking water, citing potential effects on memory, attention and motor skills with prolonged exposure.
A feasibility study commissioned in 2020 determined that building a centralized conventional gravity filtration plant would be the most practical and affordable option for addressing the issue.
The facility is planned for a city-owned parcel on Chelsea Road where utility infrastructure already exists. The plant is designed to process up to 8 million gallons of water per day, a capacity officials say will add resilience to the city’s water supply well into the future.
The city is also working to acquire a neighboring parcel at the site to improve traffic flow and leave room for future expansion.
Design work on the plant is roughly 90% complete, according to officials. Officials expect MDH to complete its plan review in April, followed by a May bid opening.
The city selected a firm as the project’s design engineer in 2023.
The project draws on a mixture of state, federal and local dollars. Monticello secured $11 million through a 2023 state bonding bill, along with $2 million in federal emerging contaminant funds provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The emerging contaminant funds come in the form of principal forgiveness, meaning the city will not need to repay that portion.
The city expects to borrow approximately $32 million through the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (MPFA) to close the remaining funding gap. That loan would come through the state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), a federally authorized program that offers below-market-rate financing for drinking water infrastructure.
Officials will fund the project through water utility bills rather than property taxes, with grant dollars helping reduce how much the city ultimately needs to borrow.
Photo by Amine KM from Pexels
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