WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:29.000 From heat to water, about one in ten municipal water lines are served by lead pipes in Wisconsin. 00:29.000 --> 00:34.000 Or, according to Wisconsin watch data, more than 145,000 of them. 00:34.000 --> 00:44.000 Lead in drinking water poses serious health risks, especially to children and pregnant women, as no level of lead exposure is considered safe. 00:44.000 --> 00:56.000 While cities and municipalities across Wisconsin are working to remove lead service lines ahead of a 2037 federal deadline, one city in the midst of the work stands out. 00:56.000 --> 01:04.000 The city of Warsaw is on track to replace its remaining some 3,000 lead lines by the end of 2028. 01:04.000 --> 01:08.000 That's after already replacing about 3,500. 01:08.000 --> 01:15.000 The City Council Finance Committee just voted to pay 100% of the cost for residents. 01:15.000 --> 01:18.000 Committee Chair Alderman Michael Martins joins us. 01:18.000 --> 01:20.000 And thanks very much for being here. 01:20.000 --> 01:23.000 Oh, thank you so much. Thank you for inviting me. 01:23.000 --> 01:29.000 So what is the cost on average for residents to replace their lead service lines? 01:29.000 --> 01:36.000 Well, it depends on the situation, what the composition of their soil is. 01:36.000 --> 01:46.000 We've been averaging about, you know, with the current process, about $6,700 per lead service line. 01:46.000 --> 01:50.000 And so that's a lot of money for any individual homeowner. 01:50.000 --> 01:54.000 Why did the finance committee decide to go ahead and cover that cost? 01:54.000 --> 02:08.000 Well, when we looked at the numbers and we saw, you know, we started lead service line replacements in 2024, and we've been very aggressive in moving forward with this program. 02:08.000 --> 02:26.000 And since we've just passed the halfway point, we felt that we could get as many of these lines done as quickly as we could instead of spreading everything out until that 2037 deadline. 02:26.000 --> 02:45.000 We would, you know, even though the upfront cost is more, you know, for us for the next two years, we would, we could finish the program by 2028, saving potentially up to $37 million, you know, before the, you know, if we were to, if we were to slow our role. 02:45.000 --> 02:51.000 So what is the total cost of the project expected to be when you're finished? 02:52.000 --> 02:59.000 I think all in, and all done, it's going to be well over $57 million. 02:59.000 --> 03:09.000 It's a significant portion of it. We've been able to, you know, recover through federal and state grants, principal forgiveness loans. 03:10.000 --> 03:27.000 What, you know, what we've come up with, right, you know, is as the program continues, our funding gap, you know, increases from year to year, and that's where the city ends up paying more on these last, these last three years of the replacement program. 03:27.000 --> 03:36.000 And isn't it also true that some of these government grants and loans could be drying up as well? 03:37.000 --> 03:46.000 You know, it's part of it is they're drying up, and other part of it is other communities are coming online with their replacement programs. 03:46.000 --> 03:56.000 So it's, the pot is, you know, not only dwindling, but there is more people looking for a share of the loans of the principal forgiveness. 03:56.000 --> 04:00.000 You know, we've been fortunate by getting an early start. 04:00.000 --> 04:03.000 We've been able to capture a lion's share of that. 04:03.000 --> 04:13.000 And how are residents in Warsaw responding to this work and the latest move to cover the cost of it? 04:13.000 --> 04:20.000 You know, the residents have been responding very favorably to getting their lead lines replaced. 04:20.000 --> 04:30.000 And I think, you know, to this point, you know, those that have been able to participate, we've been able to do about half the lines in the city on the private side. 04:30.000 --> 04:40.000 And, you know, they're thankful that we've been able to do it so far without any cost to the homeowner, the individual homeowner. 04:40.000 --> 04:53.000 You know, it's to be seen, you know, like I said, because there's a funding gap, the city's going to have to take on a little bit more debt for the next two years in order to finish it up. 04:54.000 --> 05:14.000 But I think that people overall will see the benefits, you know, the long-term benefits of not only having safe drinking water, but also saving money in the long-term by financing this now and getting it done versus doing it piecemeal over the next decade. 05:14.000 --> 05:24.000 So going forward into the next couple of years, as you aggressively push to remove these lead lines, can the city coffers handle that? 05:24.000 --> 05:37.000 That remains to be seen. I think, you know, for at least 2027, I think we should be able to, you know, to manage it. 05:37.000 --> 05:43.000 What the funding gap will be in 2028, you know, where we're still going to have to analyze. 05:43.000 --> 05:56.000 Our debt ratios are at a point where, you know, we can, it's, it's, our debt ratios are at the point where we can, you know, we can still manage that. 05:57.000 --> 06:11.000 And I think, you know, we do want to reduce our long-term debt, but also, you know, keeping our debt levels, you know, in the future at a manageable pace, you know, will is also part of that. 06:11.000 --> 06:17.000 So meanwhile, the full city council is expected to vote on paying the full cost. 06:17.000 --> 06:20.000 Do you expect that to pass? 06:20.000 --> 06:28.000 Well, you know, it remains to be seen. I think there's, you know, some people that are concerned about what our, what our municipal debt level is. 06:28.000 --> 06:45.000 But I think in the long term, this hope, you know, this should win out as a, as people see the greater benefits of getting the lead out of our water system and getting this program finished up in a timely manner, you know, so that we can move on. 06:45.000 --> 06:51.000 And in the future, you know, be more, be more aggressive with other, you know, other debt reduction programs. 06:51.000 --> 06:57.000 I mean, right now we, we've got the ability, you know, to get these loans at a quarter of a percent. 06:57.000 --> 07:01.000 So doing it now saves money later. 07:01.000 --> 07:02.000 All right. 07:02.000 --> 07:07.000 Well, Michael Martin's older person city of Warsaw. Thanks so much. 07:07.000 --> 07:11.000 Okay. Well, thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here. 07:16.000 --> 07:18.000 Thank you. 07:18.000 --> 07:32.000 Appreciate it. It is interesting that Warsaw has been aggressive in this way. And yet, you know, I always remark city of Madison did this, like, right in the 90s or something. 07:32.000 --> 07:42.000 Yeah, I know. And, you know, we, you know, we're probably on the leaders statewide where the leaders, you know, with, with Milwaukee and Racine. Yeah. 07:43.000 --> 08:02.000 We've been, I think we've been fortunate that our previous, you know, a mirror, mirror administration really worked hard to secure this funding and to get us, you know, get us set up with this public private partnership that it's really saving a lot of money. 08:02.000 --> 08:04.000 And I hope people see that. 08:04.000 --> 08:05.000 All right. 08:05.000 --> 08:07.000 Yeah. Good. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. 08:07.000 --> 08:08.000 You bet. 08:08.000 --> 08:09.000 Have a good weekend. 08:09.000 --> 08:11.000 Yeah, you too. Take it easy. 08:11.000 --> 08:12.000 Thanks. 08:12.000 --> 08:13.000 Thanks.