Nicolet expects to share well report in July

Nicolet College officials are preparing to share a scientific report on the City of Rhinelander’s proposal to drill a new municipal well on campus.
“We anticipate that we will be able to share the report with the community around July 1,” the school’s public information officer Jenna Allen told the Star Journal, noting that Nicolet officials want to meet with the author of the report, prominent research hydrologist Dr. Christian Langevin, to ensure they fully understand the findings before the information is made available to the public.
“We haven’t met or had discussions with city officials since the listening session,” Allen added.
The college hosted a neighborhood listening session on May 20 to gather feedback on the proposal from Town of Pelican residents and other interested parties.
The city has been searching for over a year for an appropriate site for a new well to help alleviate its water capacity issues. The city’s water supply has been the subject of concern since 2019 when two municipal wells (Nos. 7&8) had to be taken offline due to PFAS contamination. The city explored the possibility of locating a well on the fast-growing east side of the city, near the bypass, but an appropriate site couldn’t be found due to its proximity to the Town of Stella, home to some of the highest PFAS levels in Wisconsin.

Forced to search in another area, the city received permission to drill a test site on the college campus. In late March, the common council chose Town & Country Engineering to design the potential well, a necessary step to obtain funding for the project. However, news of the city’s well exploration activities came as a surprise to officials and residents in the Town of Pelican, where the college is located.
The May 20 listening session, as well as a listening session hosted by the city a week earlier, was held to further explain the proposal and hear from potential adjacent property owners.
Nicolet and city officials have stressed that the proposed well cannot be located on the campus unless or until the school and the city come to a lease or purchase agreement for the land in question. The college hired Dr. Langevin as part of its “due diligence” in evaluating the city’s proposal, school officials said during the listening session.
Meanwhile, the Nicolet Board of Trustees, which will ultimately vote on the proposal, is about to be reorganized. Trustees Joe Salzer and Melinda Young are leaving office while newcomers Tony Pharo, Scott Sievert and James Mulleady are set to join the nine-member panel. The other board members are Eric Burke, Stephanie Byers, Abbey Dall, Dianne Lazear, Bob Martini and Bob Mott.
Dall serves as the board chairperson.The board’s reorganizational meeting is scheduled for July 14.