We have a problem in Hastings.”

Ryan Stempski, Director of Public Works.

Last week Hastings city staff hosted members of the Senate Capital Investment Committee, seeking $39.1 million in state bonding dollars for the eastern and western water treatment plants.
City staff walked senators through the two water treatment plant projects, water rate increase projections, and funds already acquired for the projects.
“We have a problem in Hastings,” began Ryan Stempski, Director of Public Works.
Hastings’ wells all test higher than the new federal level for PFOA, a common type of PFAS, ranging from just above federal guidelines to more than five times that limit.
Despite the city’s proximity to 3M dumping sites in Washinton County and its high levels of PFAS in city water, Hastings was not part of the 2018 3M settlement fund that covered the cost of PFAS water treatment for many Washington County cities like Woodbury and Cottage Grove. This left Hastings residents the ones footing the bills for water treatment plants.
Stempski spoke about the various options the city considered before settling on building three water treatment plants. Those options included drilling deeper wells, piping water in from other communities and even temporary solutions like providing bottled water to residents.
Those options were either prohibitively expensive, or unfeasible. For example, providing bottled water to just 20% of Hastings residents would require a 100% increase in city water rates, said Dan Wietecha, Hastings City Administrator.
“No other cost-effective solutions present themselves other than treatment in Hastings,” said Stempski.
Instead, the city settled on the construction of three water treatment plants that will use granular activated carbon (GAC) filters that absorb PFAS and must be replaced regularly. The city broke ground for the first water treatment plant last month with construction expected to stretch through 2026.
The city is seeking bonding dollars for the other two water treatment plants, or over half of the total cost of $70 million. That figure includes the three water treatment plants and a connection to the Veterans Home, bringing the facility from a private well onto city water.
“This is a budget buster,” said Wietecha.
Hastings residents have already felt the sting of water rate increases, which have already risen 21% this year, with 30% more in increases scheduled across three 10% raises over the next year and a half.
Those increases have already taken Hastings water above the 0.003% of average household income, which is the standard for affordable water.
In addition to the burden being shouldered by residents, members of the Hasting Chamber of Commerce highlighted projected figures that local businesses have already and are expected to pay with more expensive water.
Spiral Brewery is estimated to spend an additional $6,000 on water annually, with local restaurants expected to pay an additional $11,500 in water per year.
The city’s bond rating was another avenue that water treatment plants threatens to affect. The city of Hastings’ bond rating was upgraded to AA+ in recent years, which lowered interest rates for various city projects.
Taking on tens of millions of dollars’ worth of debt would threaten that newly upgraded rate, thus costing the city more over the years in interest each time it borrows money.
“We have been told if we have to take on this amount of debt in this short of time, expect it to be degraded, which would impact all products, all infrastructure that’s going to be done for years to come,” said Wietecha.
The ask for state funding comes with considerable work already done for the project from feasibility studies to the contribution of city-owned land in addition to other outside funds that have already been acquired.
The city is asking for $18.3 of $22.3 million for the eastern water treatment plant, and $20.7 of 21.7 million for the western.
A key part of the ask is that it is one-time funding for a shovel-ready, permanent solution to Hastings PFAS problem.
The presentation was cut short, however as the committee moved on to Cottage Grove where they would hear about the Renovation of Cottage Grove Readiness Center, according to the Senate itinerary.
The committee’s stop in Hastings was one of 15 that day and more than two dozen across the week as senators and staff visited cities around the metro and around the state to learn about projects seeking funds from St. Paul.
Other nearby projects senators heard about that day included renovations for the Anoka dam, sanitary sewer replacements in West St. Paul, and a number of other cities’ requests for PFAS water treat dollars including from Apple Valley, Oak Park Heights, and Stillwater.
The last time Hastings received bonding dollars was in 2020 when the city received $2 million for repairs to Hastings City Hall, which represented almost half of the $5.5 million project which is still ongoing.
“The state’s investment helps to restore and preserve this important piece of Minnesota’s history for generations to come,” said Mayor Mary Fasbender about the previous bonding dollars.