Wausau Mayor Discusses Lead Pipe Replacement

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024 -- 8:01 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) The abnormally warm winter and early spring doesn't mean that Wausau’s lead service line replacement project will get an early start.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Mayor Katie Rosenberg says they’re still preparing the bid process for plumbers and contractors who want to be part of the program, which will go through the same procedures that other city contracts follow.

“[Bids] will be opened by the Board of Public Works, they’ll talk about them at the committee level- all of that is happening,” said Rosenberg. She says they’re still working to get as many bids as possible because of the size of the project.

The city hopes to replace 500 or more lead service lines this summer, then as many as 2,000 in the following years. Once the contractors are locked in there will be a public information session for those who will get the new lines this summer.

The city and Community Infrastructure Partners are also identifying homes for this year’s project list. “We’re trying to identify more than the 500 in case we can get that many done. If we end up having more money left over we want to do more.”

The city’s goal is to replace all 8,000 lead service lines within five years. An outside group, Community Infrastructure Partners, is helping the city plan the process on a series of five one-year deals.

Rosenberg notes that she has faith in CIP but the city didn’t enter into a five-year agreement with them on purpose. “We will assess it as the [season progresses, asking] ‘Is this doing what we want?’ ‘Is this doing what we expected?’ That’s the conversation we’ll be having during the summer.”

City leaders have also called for a briefing in October on the first-year progress. That will include a summary of what worked and what didn’t, along with stories from homeowners who had their lines replaced. A recent federal mandate calls for replacing all lead service lines in the next ten years.

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