City’s water dept. office to close temporarily

By Brandi Makuski

Public access to the city’s water department office will close to the public for about two weeks beginning on Sept. 4.

The closure will be caused by heavy construction activity as the utility department nears completion of a new building on its campus, according to a news release from Joel Lemke, director of public utilities and transportation.

The Green Circle Trail will also be detoured around the construction, he added.

The new 37,500-square-foot facility is located at 1925 Cypress, immediately adjacent to the office where property owners go to pay their quarterly water bills.

The building is a new service garage for the Stevens Point Water/Wastewater Department. The campus is already comprised of multiple buildings across the street on Bliss Ave., along with several holding tanks used in the process of treating the city’s wastewater.

Lemke said the existing service building was designed in 2008 for seven employees when oversight of the city’s 160 miles of water and sewer pipes was transferred from the streets dept. to the water utility, but today is used by at least a dozen people. The tight quarters make work difficult, he said, adding the building was not well insulated.

Customers who pay their utility bills in person during the Sept. 4-14 closure will need to do so at the city clerk’s office inside the County-City Building, 1515 Strongs Ave., Lemke said.

Customers with questions, or in need of special accommodations, should call the office at (715) 345-5260.

The $13-million project, which was approved in January, will result in a two percent increase in water rates and should be complete by the end of the year.