The Pulaski Township Board in its segment with engineer Alan Smaka discussing the Swains Lake Sewer Project MOU with the Village of Concord.
By KEN WYATT
Contributing Writer
The Swains Lake Sewer Project advanced another step at the Pulaski Township Board meeting this week. In a unanimous vote, the board supported a proposed Memo of Understanding between Pulaski and the Village of Concord.
In brief, the eight-page memo outlines conditions by which Swains Lake sewage would be transferred from the southwest side of the lake to the village for treatment. Alan Smaka, the project engineer, wrote the MOU based on a meeting with village officials recently.
It was presented at Monday’s Pulaski board meeting. Both board members and several lake residents asked questions for about half an hour.
Terry Meade, trustee, raised a question about the extent of the project. “In your opinion, would it make sense to have water and sewer on both sides of the lake?”
Smaka’s answer reflected a political/financial reality. Yes, he replied, it would make sense. However, it would also be more costly, and therefore more controversial.
The north side of the lake already has village water, but no sewers. The southwest side has neither, and that is the problem whose solution has prompted several past efforts to get sewers. Homes along the lower-lying shoreline of the lake are plagued with a high groundwater level. That creates a problem for septic disposal. Several such homes are not wholly habitable, for they do not have functional septic tanks and drain fields.
After lengthy discussion, Supervisor Chuck Todd offered a motion to support the MOU. It passed, and was to be presented to the village at the council’s Tuesday night meeting.
However, the MOU is only a framework for developing a village/township wastewater system. There are 23 sections in it, some of them in need of specific elements yet to be determined. For example, there are existing rates and charges in the village for both residents and non-residents. How those would be applied to a Swains Lake system needs further scrutiny.
The MOU is, therefore, a starting point for creating the system.
After the board vote was completed, lake residents in attendance applauded. One said out loud, “We’ve never gotten this far before!”
For his part, the engineer cautioned, “Let’s celebrate tomorrow after the village meeting.”
That was how things ended at Pulaski Monday evening. Here’s what happened at Tuesday’s Concord Village Council meeting:
“This is as far as it’s ever gotten.” With those words of appraisal, Jason Blossom, Concord Village DPW director, gave a thumbs-up to the MOU between Pulaski Township and the village. In a formal step toward that understanding, Village President Jeremy Bush was given the authority to sign the agreement with village Treasurer July Lefere.
Smaka made a presentation and was present to answer questions. At Pulaski, the questions took up half an hour or so. At Concord, there were no questions from council members, but rather some observations by both Bush and Blossom. They had met a couple of times with the engineer.
It was pointed out that the village’s original system was developed with the clear possibility in mind that it might one day accept Swains Lake septage. In other words, the system has the capacity to treat that additional septage.
Smaka’s presentation was brief and to the point. He acknowledged previous attempts had failed. He said his efforts in the past year were intended to be a “fresh look” at the entire scene. That narrowed the focus from a previous design to a joint project with the Village of Concord.
Questions even since Monday night’s meeting have been raised by residents of the north side of the lake. Mainly, would the sewer project be expanded to include the north side? In Tuesday’s meeting, Smaka said the main focus is serving the south side residents most in need. However, the project could be enlarged and, as he told a Pulaski board member, though that would be more costly a project, it makes sense in the long term.
In his closing comment after the presentation, Bush told Smaka and Chuck Todd, Pulaski supervisor, “I’ll have that signed for you tomorrow.”
