Main lift station was identified to be replaced back in 2014

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The City of Henning received positive news on what could have been a major sanitary issue regarding its main lift station.

During its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday night, the Henning City Council heard that the control panel went out on the main lift station earlier that morning. 

Utility Supervisor Ted Strand said he got lucky and was able to find a pump with the right parts to make a temporary fix. 

While he was able to make a quick repair to ensure the main lift station in the city was working, Strand said a more permanent repair was likely needed. 

Strand spoke with the city engineer who said the city has several options, including hoping that his repair holds together and it doesn’t fail. If that were to happen the city would have wastewater going down into the nearby creek.

The city could also wait until PFA funding is available to make a permanent repair, which the city was hoping to receive earlier this year, but ultimately did not get funding as there was not enough money available. The PFA funding could feature a mixture of grants and low interest loans. 

The final option would be a temporary fix to put a new pump and controls into the building for $30,000-35,000. The work could be completed this fall and much of the equipment being used for the repair could be used down the road when the lift station is replaced. That could buy the city some time to wait for PFA funding to make a permanent repair at the main lift station.

“It gives us time so when the PFA money becomes available we can get some of that money,” said Strand of the temporary fix. “This will get us until we get to that PFA money.”

A complete replacement for the lift station could be half a million dollars and could take anywhere from 18 months to 2 years to get the equipment in and complete the project.

  Henning Mayor Darren Wiese said the city was told that it would need to replace the lift station as many as eight years ago.

The city council approved making the temporary repair and will continue to seek PFA funding for a more permanent fix.