By Scott Sullivan
Editor
Saugatuck Township started work Monday, March 17, to replace a nearly 100-year-old, 2-inch water line serving Riverside Drive and Dugout Road.
“This is a legacy project dating back to the 1990s,” said township manager Daniel DeFranco. “The old line, patched together out of galvanized pipe and garden hose in some spots, posed serious health and fire-safety hazards for residents.”
The $700,000 project — drawing on $350,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds distributed through Allegan County, $200,000 in special assessments on 22 benefited property owners and $150,000 from the township general fund — will:
• Replace the old, dead-end line with 2,400 feet of 8-inch diameter public watermain,
• Replace lead service lines to EPA and state standards,
• Complete a system loop to provide fire protection, and
• Support a future municipal well that will both Saugatuck and Laketown townships, plus Saugatuck and Douglas cities.
Traffic outside dead-end Dugout and Riverside will not be impacted, said DeFranco, and be kept to a minimum — brief water outages and driveway and blocked driveways — for dwellers on affected streets.
Residents will be updated weekly via the township website saugatucktownshipmi.gov, he said.
