Questions about new Onaway sewer system answered at town meeting
About 40 residents were in attendance at a town meeting last week in Onaway to address the coming of a sewer system. A panel of 14 city officials, Wilcox Professional Services engineers and consultants, and an official from the District Health Department were on hand to provide information for the residents on the new project.
City manager Joe Hefele began the meeting by offering a brief rundown of the state of the project.
“Phase One funding from USDA Rural Development will cover the treatment plant and main construction,” he said. “Phase Two will pick up the extension of the sewer lines, and Phase Three is not yet secured.” Phase Three will pay for the design and construction of the remainder of the town.
Hefele told the audience he hopes to have the entire town hooked up to the system by 2006.
The fly in the ointment has been the myriad of funding sources which has created the necessity for three phases in the planning and construction of the sewer system. The funding sources have been both a blessing and a problem, of sorts.
The funding sources have allowed the use of a MDEQ Clean Michigan Inititative $1 million grant to be spen
“The problem is we only have until one year from July to spend the money from the funding source (for the service line installation), which is why we’re actually putting service lines in before the plant construction,” Hefele said.
Randy Scott, an engineer with Wilcox, told the audience that the process will create a lot of dust, problems and issues.
“We’re driven by funding and that’s why we have proceeded in the various phases we have,” he said.
At the end of the question and answer session, one member of the audience spoke up to commend the fine job and all the hard work which has gone into the sewer system planning, to which the audience gave a hearty applause.