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City Engineer

The City of Oronoco currently contracts with Stantec for its engineering needs. Stantec has served as Oronoco City Engineer since 2006 and has been providing Planning Services since 2020. Joe Palen, PE- principal, is the city's point of contact with Stantec.

Firm Overview

The Stantec community unites approximately 28,000 employees working in over 400 locations across six continents. We’re architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists, and project managers, innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Balancing these priorities results in projects that advance the quality of life in communities across the globe. Since 1954, our local strength, knowledge, and relationships, coupled with our world-class expertise, have allowed us to go anywhere to meet our clients’ needs in more creative and personalized ways. With a long-term commitment to the people and places we serve, Stantec has the unique ability to connect to projects on a personal level and design with community in mind.

Local Staff and Resources

Stantec has more than 1,800 employees in 45 offices across the region. Stantec has 470 employees based in Minnesota with local offices in Rochester, Minneapolis, Plymouth, Woodbury, and St. Cloud. Stantec’s Rochester office provides Oronoco with local experts just a short drive away.

The Rochester office of Stantec serves a region poised for growth and continued economic health. The City of Rochester and Mayo Clinic’s “Destination Medical Center” expansion, the Mississippi River Valley’s trade development, and the diverse activities of our agricultural communities are contributing to this success. Stantec works to support the region’s local communities, which offer world-class health care, ample business opportunities, and big-city amenities with a small-town feel. Stantec provides complete and professional consulting, engineering, architecture, surveying, planning, and environmental services to a variety of clients.

Joe Palen, PE

Joe is a licensed professional engineer with over 28 years of experience and is a principal at Stantec. Serving as Oronoco’s City Engineer since 2007, Joe has extensive experience in large, multi-discipline projects involving public and private utilities, stormwater drainage, and street reconstruction. His main responsibilities include project management, utility and roadway design, development reviews, municipal project funding assistance, construction management, and communications with city staff, agencies, and public stakeholders. Joe utilizes these skills while acting as City Engineer in several communities in southeastern Minnesota.

Recently, Joe has served as the project manager for the design of Oronoco’s Phase 1A wastewater system. Joe Palen led the City’s effort to plan, design, permit, secure funding and construct a municipal wastewater system. The $46.194M project began operation in March 2024 and includes a Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF), Sanitary Sewer and Water System improvements and riverbank stabilization work required to create TP credits to offset the new WWTF discharge to the river. Joe was the engineering on record on the sanitary sewer collection and water distribution system improvements and has been involved in components of the WWTF including the design and construction of the outfall pipe to the river.

Project highlights included the permitting, design, and construction services for a sanitary sewer collection system that includes 9 lift stations, ~17 miles of gravity sewer and forcemain piping, 84 residential grinder station systems, and over 2 miles of watermain improvements. Project design challenge included rolling topography with karst geology and shallow depth to bedrock, four utility crossing of the Zumbro River, two utility crossing of TH 52 (all utility crossings completed by horizontal directional drilling), and the need to serve sprawling development that includes both new residential subdivisions and historic areas of downtown Oronoco.

Joe helped Oronoco secure $34M in grant funding for the project through multiple State Bonding appropriations and a Point Source Implementation grant. The City’s cost share of the project was financed through State Revolving Fund Loans and a partnership with Oronoco Estates Mobile Home Community who is also served by the project.

Significant past Oronoco projects completed by Stantec and Mr. Palen include:

~ Zumbro River Restoration project, which received the 2019 ACEC-MN Grand Award.

~ Allis Park Improvements

~ Water System Improvements