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Welcome tackles city projects

WELCOME — The Welcome City Council approved the zoning report. They also approved the bid for seal coating and patching of several streets on the south side of town from Pearson Brothers.

They continued the discussion of the wastewater issue with sludge removal. City employee, Max Longley, reported that he had contacted some nearby towns and Madelia and Winnebago had aerated digesters similar to the Welcome system. He will continue to investigate possible solutions and compare to the other towns as asked by the council. Madelia has a new mixer to add water and keep up the suspension of sludge. Winnebago has a propeller on their digester. Longley will ask what they paid and where they got the systems and if they are efficient. He will report to the council at the next meeting. An engineer from SEH is also working on a system of jets or spray nozzles to flush the water and sludge. The council approved asking for this study after some discussion about the need for feasibility studies. The council learned that there is trash in the sludge and pumps may get plugged up. The sludge is about 4 feet deep and thick like tar according to councilman, Elroy Glidden. There may be a need to add or replace some electric parts to accommodate the system picked for the solution. The council remarked that there is no perfect solution. The last time it was cleaned out was 2014 and there is a lot of sediment from those years. The sludge may need to be cleaned out before a system is added for a solution. Discussion will continue at the next meetings.

Travis Winter from Bolton and Menk Engineers reported that the application for the 2022 road improvement project for Dugan Street was sent in since Dugan is a State Aid Route he hopes to get some funding from that resource. He also reported that the Department of Transportation plan for the road from Highway 26 to I-90 in Welcome is not for tearing up the surface but mill overlaying and drainage improvement whenever they do that stretch of road.

A discussion was also held concerning future plans such as replacing the old pickup and seal coating in town. There will be a presentation via Zoom at noon on March 10 about a special seal coating that may or may not be used in town.

The next meeting of the Welcome City Council is scheduled for 6 p.m. on March 16 at the Welcome City Hall.

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