Acme, Traverse City Explore Infrastructure Options

Officials in both Acme Township and Traverse Town are looking at ways to upgrade their infrastructure, including their water and / or sewer systems.

Acme Township Trustees held a special meeting Tuesday to review preliminary results from Gosling Czubak, an engineering services company hired by the board in February to investigate the feasibility of creating a public water supply in Acme. The community – which has a sewage system but no municipal water of its own – has long hoped to build a water system, and this goal has been in the township master plan for years.

The Trustees do not want to build a community-wide system, but rather one that could specifically supply water to Corridors US-31 and M-72. Acme has lost several potential commercial developments and apartment building projects due to lack of public water to support the growth. Beckett & Raeder’s John Iacoangeli, who provides advisory services to the community, told trustees in February that focusing on water for the Acme Economic Development Zone would also prevent it from spreading to agricultural areas. “It would preserve the rural character of the community’s balance by focusing on concentrated development in areas along your trade corridors,” he said.

Gosling Czubak considered three options as part of the feasibility study: Acme Township Development of its own complete water system with community-controlled water sources, treatment, storage, emergency power and distribution; Acme is developing its own distribution pipelines, but connecting water supplies to East Bay Township (eliminating the need for water storage and treatment); and Acme develops its own distribution lines but connects to a water supply owned by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

There are currently 86 potential customers in the economic development zone in question for water connections, 48 ​​of them commercial and 38 private customers. Gosling Czubak projected the average water demand for this customer base at 65,000 gallons per day. If every property in the zone were developed – a scenario trustees said was important in calculating risks and rewards as the goal is to get more commercial growth – demand could more than double to 134,400 gallons per day.

The estimated cost of building a self-contained township water system is just over $ 8 million, down from $ 6 million to connect to the East Bay Township system and $ 4.3 million Dollars for connection to the system of the tribe. While it is the most expensive, the benefit would be that Acme owns its system completely, has independent control over its own water supply, and ultimately generates long-term income for the community. Connecting to the East Bay system would present routing challenges, including the need to run 6,600 feet of aqueduct to connect to water from the Acme Economic Development Zone. Joining the East Bay or Tribe system would be less costly and risky – consultants stressed the responsibility that comes with direct responsibility for providing clean water to customers – but it would also change the ownership of the community in terms of water prices ship forever.

The construction of either a self-contained township system or water distribution lines connected to another system would be funded by a 40-year low-interest loan through the USDA’s rural development program. The success of installing a system depends heavily on attracting as many customers as possible. The trustees discussed the possibility of using a development-oriented approach and expanding the system over time as properties are redeveloped and owners try to join the system. The curators did not commit themselves to any particular path on Tuesday – they leave the door open to one of the three options and decide that moving forward is impractical – and will discuss the study again on September 7, with Gosling Czubak at the Completion works a final report for submission to the municipality.

In the city of Traverse City, officials are also looking into ways to upgrade the city’s water and sewer systems. City commissioners last week approved a $ 14,900 contract with Hubbell, Roth & Clark engineering firm to provide construction drawings and cost estimates for a project to relocate 8,000-meter-long city canals along the Bay Street corridor from Oak Street to Monroe Street as well as providing portions thereof from secondary canals from the south, including Maple, Division / Cypress, Cedar, Spruce and Elmwood Streets. Other areas in need of improvement include the alley east of Union Street from Twelfth Street to Lake Street and the alley south of Front Street from Union Street to Park Street.

The target areas contain a high proportion of old clay canals that are affected by high sea levels. Now below the water table, the pipes are susceptible to inflow – which occurs when water enters the system through manhole covers or unauthorized connections from roof drains or basement sump pumps to the system – and seepage that occurs through cracks or loose connections in pipes when surface water seeps into the ground and penetrates the pipes. Both problems can cause channel overflows. Hubbell, Roth & Clark will submit plans to secure the 8,000 foot sewer through a process called cured-in-place pipe (CIPP), a “trenchless” technology – meaning that the old pipe does not need to be excavated and replaced . Instead, a felt lining is inserted into the pipe and hot water or steam is applied, which causes it to stick to the inner walls of the pipe – a new seamless, seamless inner pipe is created. This sealed “pipe within a pipe” prevents external water as well as tree and plant roots from entering the system. Hubbell, Roth & Clark is expected to provide the drawings and estimates by the end of September, a necessary step before the city can tender the project.

Earlier this summer, city commissioners voted to approve a definitive water infrastructure improvement plan submitted to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) for consideration of soft loan finance for repairs of up to $ 14.75 million became the city’s water treatment plant and distribution system. The city is applying for 20 year funding at 2 percent interest with an estimated monthly residential cost of $ 5.58 ($ 1.13 first year).

The city is separately seeking over $ 27 million in loan funding for sewage repair projects. Both loan plans list all of the potential projects the city could tackle; however, the city is not required to address all of them exactly as described or in any particular order. The implementation depends on the amount of funding approved by the state and the future approval of individual project contracts by the Commission. The city is expected to find out what funding it is eligible for in October.

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