I pushed very hard and unfortunately didn’t gain a lot of definitive support in that area but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to fight for Hastings and I think we can build on that momentum.”

Rep. Tom Dippel (R – Cottage Grove)

For the second week, Hastings city officials made their case to state legislators on why the city needs state bonding dollars to fund future PFAS water treatment plants.
The House Capital Investment Committee came to Hastings last Thursday on the second day of the group’s southeast regional tour to hear the city’s ask for $39.1 million for the eastern and western water treatment plants.
The city’s pitch to the House Capital Investment Committee was largely the same as the presentation the previous week to the Senate Capital Investment Committee.
Hastings Mayor Mary Fasbender, City Administrator Dan Wietecha, and Public Works Director Ryan Stempski spoke to the various options the city has already explored, as well as the work already done to plan for and research a permanent solution for safe city drinking water.
Key among that argument was that the city has already done considerable work in finding a permanent solution to clean drinking water as well as secured a number of grants and funds to offset the total $70 million price tag of the three proposed water treatment plants.
Wietecha continued characterizing the project overall as a “budget buster,” which threatens to raise water rates some 159%, well out of the affordable range for most households and imposing steep new costs on local businesses. For example, a study from the Hastings Chamber of Commerce found that local restaurants would pay an additional $11,500 in water annually at peak rates.
Unlike the previous week’s presentation, both of Hastings’ legislators, Rep. Tom Dippel (R – Cottage Grove) and Sen. Judy Seeberger (DFL – Afton) spoke on behalf of Hastings to the committee.
“We want to make sure that the citizens here of Hastings don’t have to foot the bill of pollution and contaminants from other individuals. They shouldn’t have to pay for that,” said Dippel.
Seeberger led the group in a Hastings chant before giving her pitch: “Hastings was proactive when it came to building a water treatment plant. They did not wait until they were in a pitfall before they stared the process […] they have turned over every rock, every couch cushion, federal, state, local, whatever they can do to find dollars so that residents of Hastings don’t have to foot the bill.”
The House Capital Investment Committee submitted a number of questions to the city before the presentation on current water rates, the total rate increase if the city were to not receive funding and median household income, among others.
Rep. Rick Hanson, a member of the House Capital Investment Committee, asked a number of questions about the granular activated carbon filters and the permanence of the solutions proposed by the city of Hastings to treat its water.
“This really is a system that has been used for decades,” responded Wietecha.
Both the Senate and House Capital Investment Committees will reconvene in February before moving forward to select projects.
From there the Committee can “hopefully come together to figure out what is the amount of borrowing that we are willing to accept, and then start putting our budget together,” said Rep. Fue Lee, Co-Chair of the House Capital Investment Committee.
Lee was confident that a bonding bill would get through at least the Minnesota House of Representatives this year even with the looming deficit: “I’m hopeful that our colleagues in the Senate will work with us to get something done.”
Last year the Senate brought forward a bonding package that did not make it through the House of Representatives.
Both Dippel and Seeberger said they would support bonding this year.
Dippel also spoke to continuing to seek funds for water treatment plants through the Legacy Amendment Clean Water Fund. Dippel announced this bill last year from the Hastings City Hall but wasn’t able to secure those funds for the city.
“I pushed very hard and unfortunately didn’t gain a lot of definitive support in that area but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to fight for Hastings and I think we can build on that momentum,” said Dippel.
Seeberger was optimistic about the visit: “When you’re at the capitol and you hear about issues, is one thing, but when you’re actually out in the community and seeing the place and the people, it makes a big difference.”