The Finance Committee met 06/09/2025. In addition to discussing and voting on the request to approve a Hwy KK corridor study and a bike and pedestrian study they took up several other action items including requests associated with reimbursements for galvanized pipe replacements, some wastewater treatment plant projects, and the spending of an addition $70,000 in ARPA funds for administrative services provided by Booth Management Consulting.
All of the items were unanimously recommended for approval by the committee.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
REQUEST TO APPLY FOR A 2026 SAFE DRINKING WATER LOAN – The Wisconsin DNR Safe Drinking Water Loan Program provides funds to help municipalities assist property owners with the costs associated with replacing lead and galvanized service lines. Up through 2025, all of the funds the city has received have covered 100% of the cost of replacement. Starting next year, in 2026 and in 2027, the funds will cover only 50% of the cost of replacement. Public Works Deputy Director Laura Jungwirth told the committee that the city was working behind the scenes on ways to optimize that funding and are hoping to find a way for 75% of the cost of galvanized laterals to be replaced leaving only 25% for homeowners to cover.
In a few years, the funding through the DNR Safe Drinking Water Loan Program will only cover 25% of the cost of replacement followed by sections of the city that do not qualify for any funding at all. When that happens the city will be looking for alternatives to cover those costs.
Director Jungwirth reported that the city no longer had any lead laterals that needed to be replaced. There were however between 800 and 900 galvanized laterals that needed to be replaced. They want to replace 150-200 of those each year over the next 5 years.
REQUEST TO AUTHORIZE THE PRINCIPAL FORGIVEN FINANCIAL ASSISTANT AGREEMENT OF THE SAFE DRINKING WATER LOAN PROGRAM AND AWARD OF $510,523 FOR THE PROJECT – This was related to the Safe Drinking Water Loan amount that the city had been awarded in 2025. That money was 100% forgivable. The city, however, had to pay out of its own pocket for the water laterals to be replaced and then seek reimbursement from the state. This item was part of the formal paperwork the city needed to submit in order to be reimbursed.
REQUEST TO APPROVE 2025 BUDGET AMENDMENT RECORDING ACCEPTANCE OF PRINCIPAL FORGIVEN FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE LOAN – This item was also part of the formal process the city needed to go through in order to receive reimbursement for their 2025 costs associated with the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program.
REQUEST TO AWARD SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE OF AWWTP POLYMER MAKE-DOWN SYSTEMS TO POLYDYNE INC FOR A TOTAL COST NOT TO EXCEED $89,500 – The committee’s main question was: what is a polymer make-down system. Utilities Deputy Director Ryan Rice told the committee that the utility uses a neat chemical polymer in its treatment process. The make-down system dilutes that polymer to a certain ration and then sends it to another mixing take where it is then pumped out over to the belt filter press. Maintaining an accurate dilution rate helps maintain consistency on the belt filter presses, preventing process interruptions and messes.
Utilities Director Chris Stempa added that the polymer the city purchases is $50,000 a load, and this equipment will help them make the best possible use of that chemical and take good care of it.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) said that she is normally concerned about sole source contracts, but in this case she did not view this as an actual sole source contract since a quote was obtained from another company that was $42,500 more expensive than the quote from Polydyne Inc.
REQUEST TO APPROVE CHANGE ORDER #6 TO ROHDE BROTHERS AS PART OF THE AWWTP SLUDGE PIPING AND DIGESTER HEAT EXCHANGER REPLACEMENT PROJECT – Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) noted that this project was scheduled to be completed in October and this change would leave them with only $23,000 of contingency. She wanted to know if there was a concern that the rest of the contingency was going to be eaten up before the project was completed.
Director Stempa was not concerned. The project was near completion and they were trying to make the best use of some of the contingency dollars on things that were directly related to project. “I don’t anticipate any more change orders, and if there are, they’re going to be nominal.”
REQUEST TO APPROVE AMENDMENT TO INCREASE ARPA GRANT ADMINISTRATION CONTRACT WITH BOOTH MANAGEMENT CONSULTING BY $70,000 FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $220,000 – Booth Management Consulting has been helping the city administer the American Recovery Plan Act dollars it was awarded. Per Finance Director Jeri Ohman, “[T]hey ensure that we’re following all the compliance, that we’re meeting all the requirements of the ARPA grants, and assisting us to mitigate that risk of non-compliance down the road when we’re audited for these.”
Just last month, the city created a reserve fund for the approximately $1.5 million interest that had been earned on the city’s ARPA dollars while it was sitting in an interest-bearing account. That money had been intended to cover potential increases in ARPA-related project costs with any left-over funds being allocated in accordance with the city’s General Fund Excess Fund Balance Policy. The General Fund Excess Fund Balance Policy requires that 75% of left over dollars be put toward debt reduction with the other 25% allocated to different projects subject to Council approval.
Alderperson Hartzheim expressed disappointment that when the Common Council was asked to approve the establishment of that fund they were told their wasn’t really any outstanding ARPA related item that needed to be wrapped up. Now, they were being asked to take a $70,000 chunk out of that fund to pay Booth.
Director Ohman apologized and explained, “When I did the quarterly reporting that was due, it was after that meeting, so I did not see where this contract was at that point in time. We did recently have a couple of larger invoices based on the amount of work that they were doing, both on internal projects and the external projects that took more time, was more labor intensive than what they had anticipated, or what we had anticipated.”
The committee voted 4-0 to recommend all items be approved.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1304178&GUID=64E04F9C-9F78-4027-A703-5E2CF6C7664B
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