By: Donovan W. Mann – [email protected]
Humboldt, IA – The City of Humboldt is laying out the ground work to update protocol at the waste water treatment facility with help financial help from the federal and state level.
During a recent meeting of the Humboldt City Council the council took action to continue to the process of making updates to the waste water treatment facility in town. According to City Administrator Travis Goedken this includes entering into a contract with Fox Engineering.
He says that Fox Engineering is familiar with the facility, having worked with the city in the past. “They are renowned in the state as kind of the waste water specialist, if you will.” Based out of Ames, Iowa, Fox Engineering had their contract with the city on the agenda for the April 20 council meeting and was approved unanimously.
Due to last springs high water and local flooding events, repairs need to be done at the waste water facility. Goedken says that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be providing most of the funding for the repairs. However, due to recent legislative changes, these repairs will also include process updates for how water is treated at the facility.
“Part of FEMA’s funding is that when they have to repair a facility, they also make sure to bring it up to compliance with today’s codes and standards” the city administrator says. FEMA will be assisting the city in order to make sure the facility is now in compliance with the Nutrient Reduction Act, according to Goedken. He does assure that facility is still able to operate as their licenses with the DNR have not expired and will still be valid for another two years, at which time the facility will be required to be up to par.
Goedken says that the cost to the city will be smaller due to grants from FEMA at both the federal and state level. He says that 75% of the funding will come from the federal level and that 10% will come from the state. This leaves the city to cover about 15% of the expenses for the updates and repairs.
While Goedken says the technical details of the process are still being worked out by all parties involved the process is expected to continue forward in the near future.