Here & Now

Alder Michael Martens on Replacing Wausau's Lead Water Pipes

Frederica Freyberg:
From heat to water. About 1 in 10 municipal water lines are served by lead pipes in Wisconsin. Or according to Wisconsin Watch data, more than 145,000 of them. Lead in drinking water poses serious health risks, especially to children and pregnant women, as no level of lead exposure is considered safe. 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. The city of Wausau is on track to replace its remaining some 3000 lead lines by the end of 2028. That’s after already replacing about 3500. The City Council Finance Committee just voted to pay 100% of the cost for residents. Committee Chair Alderman Michael Martens joins us. And thanks very much for being here.

Michael Martens:
Oh, thank you so much. Thank you for inviting me.

Frederica Freyberg:
So what is the cost, on average, for residents to replace their lead service lines?

Michael Martens:
Well, it depends on, you know, on the situation, what the composition of their soil is. We’ve been averaging about, you know, with the current process, about $6,700 per lead service line.

Frederica Freyberg:
And so that’s a lot of money for any individual homeowner. Why did the finance committee decide to go ahead and cover that cost?

Michael Martens:
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. 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. We would, you know, even though the upfront cost is more, you know, for us for the next two years, we could finish the program by 2028, saving potentially up to $37 million. And, you know, before the, you know, if we were to slow our roll.

Frederica Freyberg:
So what is the total cost of the project expected to be when you’re finished?

Michael Martens:
I think all in and all done, it’s going to be well over $57 million. It’s — and a significant portion of it we’ve been able to, you know, recover through federal and state grants, principal forgiveness loans. What, you know, what we’ve come up with, 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 three years of the replacement program.

Frederica Freyberg:
And isn’t it also true that some of these government grants and loans could be drying up as well?

Michael Martens:
You know, they’re — 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. So the pot is, you know, not only dwindling, but there’s more people looking for a share of the loans of the principal forgiveness. You know, we’ve been fortunate by getting an early start. We’ve been able to capture a lion’s share of that.

Frederica Freyberg:
So going forward into the next couple of years, as you aggressively push to remove these lead lines, can the city coffers handle that?

Michael Martens:
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. What the funding gap will be in 2028, you know, we’re still going to have to analyze. Our debt ratios are at a point where, you know, we can — it’s — our debt ratios are at the point where we can, you know, we can still manage that. 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, is also part of that.

Frederica Freyberg:
So, meanwhile, the full city council is expected to vote on paying the full cost. Do you expect that to pass?

Michael Martens:
You know, it remains to be seen. I think there’s, you know, some people that are concerned about what our municipal debt level is. But I think in the long term, you know, this should win out 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. And in the future, you know, be more aggressive with other, you know, other debt reduction programs. I mean, right now, we’ve got the ability, you know, to get these loans at a quarter of a percent. So doing it now saves money later. We’re probably on the leader — statewide, we’re the leaders, you know, with Milwaukee and Racine. We’ve been, I think, we’ve been fortunate that our previous, you know, mayoral 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. And I hope people see that.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Well, Michael Martens, alderperson, city of Wausau, thanks so much.

Michael Martens:
Okay. Well, thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here.