Water bottling plant decision delayed by Eau Claire City Council

May 25—EAU CLAIRE — Responses from constituents who felt blindsided by a proposal from Niagara Waters to build a $65 million water bottling plant in Eau Claire caused the City Council to delay action on a deal.

During its meeting Tuesday evening, the council voted 8-2 to postpone a decision on a development agreement for the plant until its next meeting on June 14.

"At this point and how the public has replied, I don't see how I could vote for this today," Councilman Joshua Miller said.

Council Vice President Emily Berge and Councilman Jeremy Gragert both said they'd received about 300 emails from Eau Claire residents, the majority opposed to the proposal that only became public knowledge a few days ago.

"The community response was very defensive and a sense of outrage because they were not included," said Councilwoman Jill Christopherson.

Thirteen city residents spoke to the council late Monday night at a public hearing on the proposal, based on a video recording of the proceedings.

Longtime Eau Claire resident Marty Green was upset that he and others only learned about the proposed agreement to bring the water bottling plant here just hours before Monday night's meeting.

"I'm not going to say I'm against this, but I'm saying ... transparency," he told the council.

Others who spoke at Monday night's public hearing asked why the city would sell a natural resource for profit and talked about the environmental costs of a plant that produces plastic bottles.

Molly Larson, a senior at UW-Eau Claire who works at the university's Student Office of Sustainability, urged the council to postpone a vote so the community has more time to discuss the proposal. She added that the city needs to come up with a long-term plan to ensure Eau Claire has enough water for future generations' needs.

Becca Coleman, project manager at the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corp., spoke in favor of the agreement. Coleman said she's pro-commerce, pro-job and pro-family-sustaining salaries, which the project will deliver.

Niagara Waters plans to build a $65 million facility in Eau Claire's Gateway Northwest Business Park, but its total investment with equipment and other costs included is expected to exceed $100 million. The company stated the plant would open with 58 full-time employees making an average salary of over $59,000.

Kristopher Ward, the company's senior real estate development manager, told the council on Tuesday that family-owned Niagara Waters would own and operate the plant itself and sees it as a long-term investment.

"We're here for the long haul," he said.

The California-based company runs nearly 50 plants domestically, including one in the southeastern Wisconsin village of Pleasant Prairie.

For the first phase of its Eau Claire plant, the company would take 425,000 gallons a day from the city's water supply. A second phase to expand the plant would double that consumption.

City employees assured the council that the city's water treatment plant, its wells and the aquifer it draws from have more than enough capacity to supply Eau Claire's current needs and the bottling plant.

"What we are currently using is fractional compared to what the capacity is," said Aaron White, Eau Claire's economic development manager.

Lane Berg, the city's utilities director, noted that Eau Claire has seen much larger industrial users of city water in the past. In 1982, the Uniroyal tire factory used about 550 million gallons of water. The high end of use proposed for the Niagara Waters bottling plant is 302 million gallons a year, according to a city fact sheet.

The city's water treatment plant pumps about 9 million gallons per day to satisfy demand, but that can rise to 17 million gallons during peak summer activity when people are watering lawns, filling pools and washing their cars. White noted that the plant can handle pumping up to 25 million gallons a day.

While those involved in the proposed agreement with Niagara Waters explained more about Eau Claire's water capacity and the company's plans on Tuesday, council members wanted themselves and the public to get more of an education before taking a vote.

"I feel like there's a lot of information the city can provide and a lot of information the applicant could provide," Councilman Jeremy Gragert said.

City Manager Stephanie Hirsch said postponing a decision until next month would not endanger the proposed deal.

"Delaying is OK if you think it will help the community understand better," she said.

Councilwoman Kate Beaton and Councilman Roderick Jones were the two who voted against a three-week delay. Councilman Andrew Werthmann was the lone absence at Tuesday's meeting.

Beaton spoke about a longer delay so the city could develop a long-term plan for its water before voting on the plant.

"With a limited resource we need to have a smart plan for how we use it in the future," she said. "For me we need to have that before we make a decision like this."

Businesses keep licenses

Downtown Eau Claire businesses that were at risk of losing their liquor licenses due to inactivity have been given additional time to reopen.

The council voted to renew licenses for pizzeria The Plus and neighboring wine bar The Rev, 208 and 204 S. Barstow St., and live entertainment venue The Metro, 201 E. Lake St., which are all run by local businessman Benny Haas. While the wine bar is open a few hours each week, The Plus and The Metro have both been closed since early 2020.

To get the licenses renewed, Haas agreed to provide the city with monthly progress updates and deadlines for reopening.

"We will be monitoring the progress before they open and ultimately they would need to meet the terms of the contract to be opened by those dates," said Jenessa Stromberger, assistant city attorney.

The Plus has until Sept. 1 to start serving the public, while The Metro has until Jan. 3 to begin hosting live shows again.

Other business

Also during Tuesday's council meeting:

—A vote on a controversial petition to annex 438 acres from the town of Washington into Eau Claire so some of the land could become new housing was postponed to the council's June 14 meeting.

—Hourly wages for city lifeguards had been $10.25 but will be increased to $13 this summer to compete with area YMCA pools.