We fully expected seeking state funding would not be a one-time thing.”

City Administrator Dan Wietecha

To watch full videos of Hastings city council meetings, visit Hastings Community TV’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/@HastingsCommunityTV

The July 1 Hastings City Council meeting came with a monthly PFAS update. Public Works is reviewing several other potential sites for plants two and three, which are currently expected to be built in Wallin Park and Lion’s Park respectively. The other potential sites for plants two and three would have a “strong preference to avoid residential neighborhoods,” said City Administrator Dan Wietecha. Wallin Park and Lion’s Park were tentatively chosen because of several factors including cost and previous studies that showed they were acceptable sites for treatment plants. Other potential sites would also need to be reviewed for these same metrics.
When it comes to funding, the city is still waiting to hear back about several sources. Wietecha made clear that despite the lack of a bonding bill from the state legislature, the city was still looking for state funds with the understanding that it would be looking for state funds for each phase of construction.
“We fully expected seeking state funding would not be a one-time thing,” said Wietecha.
The city is still waiting on various applications for other sources of funding including with the Minnesota Drinking Water Revolving Fund (DWRF). The city has advanced plans for both plants one and two to the Intended Use Plan with the DWRF, which is the second step towards funding for projects that are ready for construction.
“The key piece of that application,” to the DWRF according to Wietecha is the Emergent Contaminant Grant that would supply up to an additional $3 million towards each project if approved. The city will hear back about these applications in the fall of this year.
The city again turns to the 2018 3M settlement as a source of paying for treatment plants. Hastings is excluded from settlement funds unless the city is able to provide a direct connection between PFAS contamination in city water and the 3M dumping sites in Washington County that were at the center of the lawsuit. The city has several ongoing environmental studies in coordination with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (PCA) in order to provide evidence of a connection.
According to Wietecha, “there has been some evidence from those studies that at least well number five has that direct connection to 3M’s disposal site in Cottage Grove.” Whether the PCA will accept that connection and allow at least well five onto the settlement is not yet clear.
Lacking outside funding, the city will be forced to fund water treatment plants via increases to water rates. Those rate increases are expected to have water rates “doubling in two years and tripling in four,” said Wietecha. The first increase is expected to be 35-40% for just water rates and begin at the start of 2025.
In order to push back those rate increases, the city council agreed to delay the bidding process of the first water treatment plant until early 2025. The extra time will allow for other sources of funding to potentially be secured as well as better communicate the water rate increases to residents.
Other business at the July 1 city council meeting included the Highway 55 Small Area Plan. The Highway 55 Small Area Plan relates to a plot of land along Highway 55 and Jacob Ave running roughly from First Street East to 15th Street East. The city had been looking to annex the land in order to better “proactively guide” future construction which potentially includes commercial, residential and high-density areas, according to Community Development Director John Hinzman.
“We often get asked, on what we are desiring to see as we grow into the development, as people come forward for annexation requests. This would provide us a tool to answer that question,” said Hinzman.
In partnership with the city, HKGi, a Planning and Landscape Architecture firm, will begin a market and infrastructure analysis and generate a concept area design.
“Our comprehensive plan didn’t really look in detail to this area,” said Hinzman.
The $50,000 contract for these analyses was budgeted in this year’s city budget. These analyses will make sure that future development both reflects existing demand and aligns with capacity for the area.
“We are in the situation right now in which it is very important that the city to ensure that development has the best impact on taxes and the least impact on services.”
To watch full videos of Hastings city council meetings, visit Hastings Community TV’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/@HastingsCommunityTV