RIVER FALLS — The River Falls City Council heard an annual report on the storm sewer system during the March 10 meeting.

City Planning and Engineering Technician Tyler Galde presented the 2024 Wisconsin, Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) general permit annual presentation.

“What that essentially means is sewage goes into a different pipe under the ground than stormwater,” Galde said. “The main goal of the MS4 permit is to reduce sediment and pollutants from entering state waters like the Kinni.”

About 245 of Wisconsin’s cities are currently permitted under the MS4. To comply with the permit in 2024, Galde said the city had zero illicit charges reported to the DNR, 31 outfall inspections, 66 stormwater pool investigations, 457 storm sewer structural inspections and 25 reports.

“If you see something that’s in the curb, running down the street, that you think maybe shouldn’t be there, just give us a call,” Galde said. “It’s easy enough for us to go take a peek at it and prevent things from going into our storm sewers.”

Galde also gave stormwater project updates. The city received a $183,000 grant for the FEMA/WEM Building Resilient Communities Grant to model the Hoffman Basin watershed. A WDNR Urban Non-Point Source Stormwater Management Grant of $170,000 was also awarded to the city. The grant is for updating city-wide stormwater quality modeling.

Council President Scott Morrissette said there are 125 ponds and around 80-85 are adopted throughout the city. He encouraged anyone interested to adopt a pond.

“If residents want to adopt a pond, we have a pretty new webpage we put together last year,” Galde said. “What it entails is two cleanups a year and sending us a report.”

A bid of $221,447 from Insituform Technologies USA was accepted, kicking off the 2025 and 2026 sanitary sewer lining projects.

“When pipe replacement is not necessary, one cost-effective rehabilitation method is sewer lining. This method does not require open trenches in the street. Pipes can be lined by accessing existing manholes. To date we have lined 36,300 feet,” city documents state.

The mains to be lined are scattered throughout the city. Ten mains will be lined in 2025 and another 11 in 2026.

The recreation and pool fee schedule saw an array of changes. Small increases to pool usage costs, changes to fee structuring and more saw no discussion from the council. Council also approved a change of agent for the Nutty Squirrel Sports Saloon to Lynn Elm and referred a seven-acre property annexation to the Plan Commission.