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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Red Wing City Council Budget Workshop: Wastewater Plan and 2026 Levy – November 3, 2025

City Council — Monday, November 3, 2025

BodyRed Wing, Minnesota

SessionCity Council

DateMonday, November 3, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:01

All right, we'll do the official start.

0:04

This is November 3rd.

0:06

City Consul workshop, and we have a couple items.

0:10

First, workshop item in the wastewater treatment facility plan.

0:13

So I will hand it over to Sean and Kelsey.

Unassigned speaker

0:16

And

Speaker 1

0:17

welcome to our consultants.

0:18

Thanks for being here tonight.

Speaker 2

0:20

Good evening.

0:22

Including your packet is the draft wastewater facility planning document.

0:27

It's uh I think just 400 pages, so I assume everybody's read that word forward to have some notes.

0:31

Perfect.

0:32

Yeah, okay, great.

0:33

Um anyway, so we're gonna we've got our friends here from Bolton and Mink that are going to go through a PowerPoint, kind of give some uh a high-level overview of that, which should be done in four or five hours.

0:42

And moving on.

0:43

Kelsey had a couple things on timeline she wanted to highlight.

0:47

And

Speaker 3

0:48

yeah, just uh reminder, this has been sort of a three-year process.

0:52

In 2023, we started with a feasibility study with SEH, and they kind of outlined some of the needs that we had moving forward.

1:00

Um 2024, we had an RFQ for an engineering fund that could do the facility plan.

1:05

And Bulletin was selected, and they spent almost two years working on this plan.

1:09

So the first year was a lot of um asset information, gathering what we have on our at our um facility, and then the next year was planning out the alternatives and all that sort of thing.

1:18

So it's been a long time.

1:20

They've been working on it.

Unassigned speaker

1:21

Speaker 3

1:21

we have Jake

Speaker 4

1:22

Eckleman

Speaker 3

1:23

with Bolden Bank, Brian Hillgartner, and then Hannah Partnow.

Unassigned speaker

1:28

I think you can see that.

Speaker 5

1:32

Well, thank you.

1:32

It's good to see everyone again.

1:34

I think last time we were in April, we did the uh wastewater plan tour, so hopefully that was a good experience for everyone, and uh you got to see uh the full extent of the need out there, right?

1:45

Um so that's the goal, and there's a lot of important decisions that got to be made here uh by the city council.

1:51

So that's what we'll be talking about today.

1:53

I know your time is valuable, so I'll try to keep it to something like 15 to 20 minutes, and then uh if there's any questions along the way, don't hesitate to stop me.

2:02

So, what are we talking about?

2:07

It's a wastewater facility plan.

2:09

As Kelsey stated, you know, this is a about a two-year process that we started in 20 uh 24 in the spring, and it's kind of led to this moment.

2:17

So, what what is the wastewater facility plan cover?

2:20

It's a 20-year planning document, so we're looking at uh the city of Red Wing's needs over the next 20 years.

2:25

That can be uh from a permitting perspective, a capacity perspective, basically your ability to treat your wastewater over the next 20 years is what's encompassed in this report.

2:35

So uh we looked at things like community growth, uh that includes your both residential and uh industrial uh projections.

2:43

You do support uh six industrial users in town at the moment.

2:47

Um design conditions, your flows, uh your loading capacity at the plant,

Unassigned speaker

2:53

and

Speaker 5

2:53

then ultimately looking at your existing infrastructure evaluation.

2:56

What is your ability to meet those 20 year needs with the existing infrastructure that you have, and what kind of improvements do you need to consider uh into the future?

3:04

Uh so that includes permit regulations, that's a big consideration.

3:08

You know, your ability to meet your current permit limits and what possibly could come in the future that could impact the type of processes you have out there and the type of money that you would need to spend to do that.

3:17

Um, and then looking at all those types of alternatives, uh basically throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks and making sure there's no stone left uh unturned uh to be thorough in this process.

3:29

Uh so you're looking at every possible alternative.

3:32

Obviously, with that cost analysis, a funding analysis, user rate analysis, all those things that you're gonna care about.

3:39

Um ultimately uh coming to the conclusion of what's recommended for capital improvements over the next 20 years.

3:45

Um this

Speaker 6

3:45

report is important

Speaker 5

3:46

for more than just that.

3:48

Um, it is required uh for PCA project approval.

3:51

So we need to submit this thing to the PCA for approval.

3:54

That's really the first step of the process in a long phase to actually implement the proofs, including design and construction that would occur after this.

4:03

So we're still at the planning level.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████████████25%

Budget Equity Analysis█████████████13%

Engineering And Infrastructure███████████11%

Capital Improvement Planning██████████10%

Personnel Matters█████████9%

Employee Benefits███████7%

Public Engagement███████7%

Energy Transition██████6%

Fiscal Sustainability████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Red Wing City Council Budget Workshop: Wastewater Plan and 2026 Levy – November 3, 2025

On Monday, November 3, 2025, the Red Wing City Council held a budget workshop in City Council Chambers. The meeting was called to order at 5:01 p.m. and adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Council President Janie Farrar presided. Council members present included Vicki Jo Lambert, Beth Snyder, Kim Beise, Ron Goggin, and Donald Kliewer; Becky Norton was excused. Mayor Gary Iocco and city staff also attended. The workshop focused on the Wastewater Treatment Facility Plan and the proposed 2026 levy and budget.

Wastewater Treatment Facility Plan

Utility staff and Bolton and Menk consultants presented a 20-year wastewater facility plan covering current plant condition, future needs, permitting requirements, alternatives assessment, funding opportunities, and a proposed improvement schedule.
The original plant was built in 1960 and is approximately 65 years old. The “do nothing” option was described as not viable due to aging infrastructure and anticipated future permit limits, including a likely future nitrogen limit.
The recommended alternative is Alternative 5, a biological aerated filter (BAF). Estimated capital cost is $142 million in 2025 dollars, including a 20% contingency and soft costs. The alternative was selected for its smaller footprint, expandability, and operational flexibility on the constrained four-acre site between the Mississippi River and a railroad.
The current average monthly sewer bill is $48.00 per the 2025 fee schedule. A 6% increase is proposed for 2026, and a rate study is underway. Consultant Pichelmann noted Red Wing’s rates are relatively low compared with other cities.
Funding opportunities identified include up to $12 million from the Point Source Implementation Grant and up to $10 million from the Water Infrastructure Fund, for a combined potential of $22 million, plus possible special appropriations bond requests. Bolton and Menk stated they have a dedicated funding team and a lobbyist to assist.
The draft facility plan was completed in October 2025. A public hearing and council resolution are expected between December 2025 and February 2026, with submission to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency by March 6, 2026. Construction could begin as early as 2028 with completion around 2031.
Council members asked about alternative scoring, nitrogen removal, construction sequencing, expansion capacity, grant success rates, and the $142 million turnkey estimate. Mayor Iocco asked about design costs, which were not yet determined.

Proposed 2026 Levy and Budget

Finance Manager Tony Schultz reported that with administrative changes, the proposed levy stood at a 3.25% increase and the fund balance draw had been reduced to just below $1 million. Based on workshop decisions, staff said it was reasonable to consider a slight reduction toward 3% and a further reduction in the fund balance draw.
Staff requested direction on several vacant positions and budget items:
- Engineering Field Tech I: Engineering Director Regnier requested funding for this vacant position, citing project needs and consultant cost savings. Council member positions varied: Ron Goggin opposed; Janie Farrar was hesitant, preferring specific numbers for 2027; Beth Snyder, Kim Beise, Vicki Jo Lambert, and Donald Kliewer expressed support.
- CIP Manager reclassification: Staff proposed replacing the vacant CIP Manager position with a lower-level accounting position to provide capacity, cross-training, and grant support. Some council members supported this option with conditions, while others requested comparative data from other cities before deciding. No consensus was reached.
- Green fund e-bike: Staff proposed using $4,900 from the green fund for a police department e-bike. The green fund has $115,000 and no planned contributions this year or next. Council members discussed using green funds for invasive species prescribed burns and requested a list of eligible uses.
- Contingency: Staff recommended lowering the council contingency from $250,000 to $200,000, consistent with recent usage.
- Invasive weed control: Postponing $10,000 in Barn Bluff invasive species control was discussed, pending a potential grant.
- Fire standards of coverage study: Chief Warner proposed an in-house option saving $35,000 from the preliminary budget.
Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML): The council reached consensus to use the MetLife private option at the half-funded level (employer pays half, employee pays half). Finance staff noted the employee cost would be approximately 0.0041% of annual wages.
Administrative changes: Staff presented various operating and CIP adjustments, including increased police revenue estimates, additional police uniforms, winter planners, and reclassified CIP items. Engineering Director Regnier noted the railroad crossing quiet zone scope could be reduced through road channelization instead of a quad gate system, likely saving significant costs.
Performance pay program: Discussion centered on the $308,000 annual budget. Several council members criticized the lack of measurable metrics. Janie Farrar proposed budgeting $100,000 for a hybrid system while developing a new program; Beth Snyder and Mayor Iocco supported $100,000. Ron Goggin suggested $154,000; Donald Kliewer and Kim Beise preferred $0; Vicki Jo Lambert supported the full $308,000 and expressed frustration. No consensus was reached, and staff requested clearer direction.
City memberships: Staff reviewed memberships including the League of Minnesota Cities, Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, Coalition of Utility Cities, Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, and Southeastern Minnesota League of Municipalities. Annual costs exceed $100,000. Council members expressed differing views: Janie Farrar and Donald Kliewer questioned the value, Vicki Jo Lambert was not ready to drop memberships, Kim Beise saw value in all, Beth Snyder questioned the Coalition of Utility Cities, and Ron Goggin preferred waiting for relicensing clarity before dropping the utility coalition. No final decision was made.

Public Comments & Testimony

No public comment was offered during the workshop.

Key Outcomes

Consensus to support the MetLife private option at half funding for PFML.
Staff was directed to bring updated levy and budget figures to the November 24, 2025 council meeting, reflecting the night’s discussions and fund balance options.
No formal votes were taken during the workshop; decisions will be folded into the 2026 budget and levy process.

Meeting Transcript

All right, we'll do the official start. This is November 3rd. City Consul workshop, and we have a couple items. First, workshop item in the wastewater treatment facility plan. So I will hand it over to Sean and Kelsey. And welcome to our consultants. Thanks for being here tonight. Good evening. Including your packet is the draft wastewater facility planning document. It's uh I think just 400 pages, so I assume everybody's read that word forward to have some notes. Perfect. Yeah, okay, great. Um anyway, so we're gonna we've got our friends here from Bolton and Mink that are going to go through a PowerPoint, kind of give some uh a high-level overview of that, which should be done in four or five hours. And moving on. Kelsey had a couple things on timeline she wanted to highlight. And yeah, just uh reminder, this has been sort of a three-year process. In 2023, we started with a feasibility study with SEH, and they kind of outlined some of the needs that we had moving forward. Um 2024, we had an RFQ for an engineering fund that could do the facility plan. And Bulletin was selected, and they spent almost two years working on this plan. So the first year was a lot of um asset information, gathering what we have on our at our um facility, and then the next year was planning out the alternatives and all that sort of thing. So it's been a long time. They've been working on it. Um we have Jake Eckleman with Bolden Bank, Brian Hillgartner, and then Hannah Partnow. I think you can see that. Well, thank you. It's good to see everyone again. I think last time we were in April, we did the uh wastewater plan tour, so hopefully that was a good experience for everyone, and uh you got to see uh the full extent of the need out there, right? Um so that's the goal, and there's a lot of important decisions that got to be made here uh by the city council. So that's what we'll be talking about today. I know your time is valuable, so I'll try to keep it to something like 15 to 20 minutes, and then uh if there's any questions along the way, don't hesitate to stop me. So, what are we talking about? It's a wastewater facility plan. As Kelsey stated, you know, this is a about a two-year process that we started in 20 uh 24 in the spring, and it's kind of led to this moment. So, what what is the wastewater facility plan cover? It's a 20-year planning document, so we're looking at uh the city of Red Wing's needs over the next 20 years. That can be uh from a permitting perspective, a capacity perspective, basically your ability to treat your wastewater over the next 20 years is what's encompassed in this report. So uh we looked at things like community growth, uh that includes your both residential and uh industrial uh projections. You do support uh six industrial users in town at the moment. Um design conditions, your flows, uh your loading capacity at the plant, and then ultimately looking at your existing infrastructure evaluation. What is your ability to meet those 20 year needs with the existing infrastructure that you have, and what kind of improvements do you need to consider uh into the future? Uh so that includes permit regulations, that's a big consideration. You know, your ability to meet your current permit limits and what possibly could come in the future that could impact the type of processes you have out there and the type of money that you would need to spend to do that. Um, and then looking at all those types of alternatives, uh basically throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks and making sure there's no stone left uh unturned uh to be thorough in this process.

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TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
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Red Wing City Council Budget Workshop: Wastewater Plan and 2026 Levy – November 3, 2025

Wastewater Treatment Facility Plan

Utility staff and Bolton and Menk consultants presented a 20-year wastewater facility plan covering current plant condition, future needs, permitting requirements, alternatives assessment, funding opportunities, and a proposed improvement schedule.

The original plant was built in 1960 and is approximately 65 years old. The “do nothing” option was described as not viable due to aging infrastructure and anticipated future permit limits, including a likely future nitrogen limit.

The recommended alternative is Alternative 5, a biological aerated filter (BAF). Estimated capital cost is $142 million in 2025 dollars, including a 20% contingency and soft costs. The alternative was selected for its smaller footprint, expandability, and operational flexibility on the constrained four-acre site between the Mississippi River and a railroad.

The current average monthly sewer bill is $48.00 per the 2025 fee schedule. A 6% increase is proposed for 2026, and a rate study is underway. Consultant Pichelmann noted Red Wing’s rates are relatively low compared with other cities.

Funding opportunities identified include up to $12 million from the Point Source Implementation Grant and up to $10 million from the Water Infrastructure Fund, for a combined potential of $22 million, plus possible special appropriations bond requests. Bolton and Menk stated they have a dedicated funding team and a lobbyist to assist.

The draft facility plan was completed in October 2025. A public hearing and council resolution are expected between December 2025 and February 2026, with submission to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency by March 6, 2026. Construction could begin as early as 2028 with completion around 2031.

Council members asked about alternative scoring, nitrogen removal, construction sequencing, expansion capacity, grant success rates, and the $142 million turnkey estimate. Mayor Iocco asked about design costs, which were not yet determined.

Proposed 2026 Levy and Budget

Finance Manager Tony Schultz reported that with administrative changes, the proposed levy stood at a 3.25% increase and the fund balance draw had been reduced to just below $1 million. Based on workshop decisions, staff said it was reasonable to consider a slight reduction toward 3% and a further reduction in the fund balance draw.

Staff requested direction on several vacant positions and budget items:

Engineering Field Tech I: Engineering Director Regnier requested funding for this vacant position, citing project needs and consultant cost savings. Council member positions varied: Ron Goggin opposed; Janie Farrar was hesitant, preferring specific numbers for 2027; Beth Snyder, Kim Beise, Vicki Jo Lambert, and Donald Kliewer expressed support.
CIP Manager reclassification: Staff proposed replacing the vacant CIP Manager position with a lower-level accounting position to provide capacity, cross-training, and grant support. Some council members supported this option with conditions, while others requested comparative data from other cities before deciding. No consensus was reached.
Green fund e-bike: Staff proposed using $4,900 from the green fund for a police department e-bike. The green fund has $115,000 and no planned contributions this year or next. Council members discussed using green funds for invasive species prescribed burns and requested a list of eligible uses.
Contingency: Staff recommended lowering the council contingency from $250,000 to $200,000, consistent with recent usage.
Invasive weed control: Postponing $10,000 in Barn Bluff invasive species control was discussed, pending a potential grant.
Fire standards of coverage study: Chief Warner proposed an in-house option saving $35,000 from the preliminary budget.

Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML): The council reached consensus to use the MetLife private option at the half-funded level (employer pays half, employee pays half). Finance staff noted the employee cost would be approximately 0.0041% of annual wages.

Administrative changes: Staff presented various operating and CIP adjustments, including increased police revenue estimates, additional police uniforms, winter planners, and reclassified CIP items. Engineering Director Regnier noted the railroad crossing quiet zone scope could be reduced through road channelization instead of a quad gate system, likely saving significant costs.

Performance pay program: Discussion centered on the $308,000 annual budget. Several council members criticized the lack of measurable metrics. Janie Farrar proposed budgeting $100,000 for a hybrid system while developing a new program; Beth Snyder and Mayor Iocco supported $100,000. Ron Goggin suggested $154,000; Donald Kliewer and Kim Beise preferred $0; Vicki Jo Lambert supported the full $308,000 and expressed frustration. No consensus was reached, and staff requested clearer direction.

City memberships: Staff reviewed memberships including the League of Minnesota Cities, Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, Coalition of Utility Cities, Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, and Southeastern Minnesota League of Municipalities. Annual costs exceed $100,000. Council members expressed differing views: Janie Farrar and Donald Kliewer questioned the value, Vicki Jo Lambert was not ready to drop memberships, Kim Beise saw value in all, Beth Snyder questioned the Coalition of Utility Cities, and Ron Goggin preferred waiting for relicensing clarity before dropping the utility coalition. No final decision was made.

Public Comments & Testimony

No public comment was offered during the workshop.

Key Outcomes

Consensus to support the MetLife private option at half funding for PFML.

Staff was directed to bring updated levy and budget figures to the November 24, 2025 council meeting, reflecting the night’s discussions and fund balance options.

No formal votes were taken during the workshop; decisions will be folded into the 2026 budget and levy process.

Meeting Transcript