By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
LAKE ORION — The Village of Lake Orion is applying for up to $7.3 million in loans to pay for sewer-related repairs in the village.
The council voted 6-0 April 24 in favor of a resolution adopting the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) Loan Sanitary Sewer Pump Stations Improvement Project planning documents.
On April 10, the village council held a public hearing on the project.
Also at the April 10 meeting Wendy Spence, senior project manager for Nowak and Fraus, presented information on the scope of the project which includes rehabbing sanitary sewers and manholes, repairing all mechanical and electrical parts of existing lift stations, corrosion protection for all structures, repairing/replacing force mains and relocating electrical stations.
According to Spence, the projected cost of the project is under $7.3 million.
Spence was also at the April 24 meeting to answer questions so the resolution could be adopted and included in the village’s CWSRF loan application to the state, which was due by May 1.
This project is long overdue for the village, which, according to Spence, has pump stations that are 50 years old and well past their life expectancy.
“The system really does need to be improved. There is the threat of imminent failure from pumps that are 50 years old,” said Spence.
Council President Jerry Narsh informed the council that the village had been selected by U.S. Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-9th District) as one of her district’s projects to receive federal grants. If awarded, the village could receive $5.8 million in federal funding.
“What that means is, in the last 20 years the discretionary funds that representatives can ear mark, it’s only been in the last two years that these have been brought back. Last year, they exercised these, and this year. What I have been told today is that we are on that list and if we’re on that list, that meant that we met all of the earmarked requirements for the federal government and the Appropriations Committee,” Narsh said. “If we are on that list, in past lists, 100 percent of the people on that list are approved. So, I’m not going to say that we’re approved but in my conversation with Congresswoman McClain’s office today, we are on a list that will be approved by the Appropriations Committee because we met that (criteria).”
What this means is that the village would not need to apply for the full $7.3 million loan from the CWSRF to complete the project.
Spence also cleared up some rumors floating around that sewer pipes under Lake Orion were leaking, saying that that was false.
“We do have three pipes that cross below the waters of the lake from lift stations to the mainland, if you want to call it that. Those are the most critical in terms of the potential for leakage. We are not aware of there being any leaks, there is no evidence of that,” Spence said.