A Con-Struct Co. of Ames and Marshalltown excavator dumps dirt into a waiting truck in Green Mountain Tuesday morning as part of a $3.7 million sanitary sewer project.

GREEN MOUNTAIN – Most days are quiet in the small unincorporated village of Green Mountain, with a population of 105 according to 2023 U.S. Census data.

But on Tuesday morning, a baseball game was underway at the GMG baseball field bordering the intersection of Green Mountain Rd. and Wallace Ave.

Across Wallace Avenue a stone’s throw from the field were the sounds of a large excavator digging a sewer line and chewing up emerald-green grass and dirt.

A large Con-Struct dump truck was idling not far from the excavator awaiting dirt. Inside a wide and deep trench, three workers were busy.

The construction work is part of a $3.7 million project to replace private septic tanks with a village-wide sewer system. Work began on April 6.

All privately-owned septic systems in the village will be disconnected from the property and filled-in. The properties will then be connected to a village-wide sewer system that will flow to a previously constructed Iowa Rural Utilities Association (IRUA)owned sewer lagoon, which will be serviced twice per year by IRUA staff.

At a public meeting on July 9, 2025, IRUA CEO Matt Mahler told attendees the project consists of two miles of pipe and 54 manhole covers.

“This is a complicated project since it is large in scope and the sanitary sewer system is being installed from scratch,” he said.

The Marshall County Sanitarian and IRUA staff will monitor installations and other work. Mahler said six experienced companies submitted bids Aug. 6, 2025, and Con-Struct of Ames and Marshalltown was the low bidder.

“The project is on track with the schedule currently in place,” said Mahler in an email reply to the T-R Tuesday. “There was a change order before construction started that extended the Substantial Completion date from Oct. 2, 2026 to Dec. 15, 2026, and extended the Final Completion date from Oct. 30, 2026 to May 25, 2027. The extension had nothing to do with contractor performance and was primarily caused by administrative delays related to the federal government shutdown that occurred late 2025 and early 2026. Switchover (from private septic to public sewer) for the first customers is anticipated to occur within the next one to three weeks.”

The project became necessary when, in 2013, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) in Des Moines determined that several privately-owned septic tanks near Nicholson Creek on the village’s west side were leaking and thereby contaminating the creek. It flows south into Rock Creek, which then flows into Iowa River on the east side of Marshalltown.

“We have received very little negative feedback,” Mahler said. “I want to highlight that the Green Mountain community deserves a lot of credit for living through a project with this scale! We have received comments from several residents. They have very valid questions about how construction is progressing, when construction is going to reach their property, how they might be impacted, or they want a reminder about what the sewer rates might cost on their monthly bill.

Village spokesperson and longtime resident John Worden said he has not heard of complaints yet in a telephone interview with the T-R Tuesday.

“I was impressed with how crews met with property owners on the first phase of the project,” he said.

He and other villagers were directly involved with the project when it first began nearly 13 years ago.

Worden opened a vintage auto repair business in the village in 1979 and recently retired.

At the July 9 meeting Mahler estimated that residents could expect to pay $104 to $150 per month in sewer fees or between $1,248 to $1,800 annually to pay down a USDA loan, which is part of project financing.

“Since that meeting, the sewer contractor’s bid came in below the engineer’s estimate,” Mahler said. “Based on current information, IRUA is now estimating sewer rates for most customers will fall between $93 to $128 per month.”

The individual monthly fees are necessary to pay down a 40-year loan from USDA to help finance the project. Since being first platted in 1855, Green Mountain has remained unincorporated, meaning it does not – nor ever has had – a mayor or city council elected by residents. Government-related business is managed by the Marshall County Board of Supervisors.

In a December 2025 interview with the T-R Marshall County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jarret Heil said he and other county officials were pleased that the project was scheduled to break ground.

The supervisors have monitored the project over the years and were instrumental in selecting IRUA as project manager.

“The completion of this village-wide sewer system will get the community in compliance with IDNR’s determination the current private septic structure was deficient and has been contaminating local water sources,” Heil said then.