Sumpter Township is finally moving forward to help bring a conforming 8” water main down Odyssey Drive to serve seven parcels. Currently a 4” line and 1” and 2” spaghetti lines bring water to Odyssey Drive residents.
The water lines have been targeted as non-compliant for more than 17 years, even though the original connections had been approved by the township.
Over the years, Van Buren Township threatened to cut off water service to Odyssey Drive under Bemis Road if it didn’t solve the water line concerns. VBT didn’t cut off service and the state didn’t do anything except remind the township over the years of what needed to be done.
The township always claimed it didn’t have the money or the responsibility to put in a water line on a private drive and residents claimed the lines were too costly.
A few years ago, there was another move to put in the line on Odyssey, but the residents thought the contractor’s bid was too high. Nothing happened.
At the April 13 township board meeting, following a public hearing, the board officially adopted the final project plan for 900 CFT of 8” water main on Odyssey Drive.
No one objected to the $91,140 project cost for which the seven parcels will pay about $807 each per year for 20 years. This would be collected on the annual tax bill as a special assessment district.
Explaining the project was engineer Keith Uutinen, who said the problem is that seven parcels are served by a 4” water line, which is non-conforming.
He said the project would bring enhanced fire protection and, “If we do nothing, we are in violation and the situation needs correction.”
Uutinen said the township could force everyone on Odyssey to use wells, but the ground water has proven to be full of sulfite and hydrogen, which is not only smelly, but not safe to drink.
Uutinen said directional drilling would minimize disruption to the residents. All wetlands would be protected.
The project is expected to go out for bids as early as January 2011 and could be started even if snow was on the ground, Uutinen said.
Dick Harrison of Odyssey Drive said he had retired and was able to watch when Sumpter’s Bemis Road water main was being installed and he saw that the 4” line was connected to the Sumpter water main, but the smaller spaghetti lines were still connected to Van Buren water.
The issue of Odyssey Drive water lines, which was among 159 targeted connections, has been simmering for many years.
In July 1995, Sumpter hosted a meeting with representatives of the City of Detroit Water Department and State Health Department where the issue of non-complying, substandard water lines was discussed at length.
The issue first arose in 1993, when a resident 1,000 feet down a private road wanted to be assured of fire protection, which was impossible with his small water line that had been installed after being approved by the township.
The resident wrote to the City of Detroit, which supplies the water, and the city said an 8-inch line should be put in for protection of him and his family.
At that point, a water contract with the City of Detroit from the 1960s was referred to and township officials said they didn’t know a contract existed, but the city insisted the township abide by it.
At the 1995 meeting, Robert Green of the Michigan Department of Health explained the state law on water lines, adding any water supply serving more than once residence is considered a public line.
He said the state is concerned for public health and if private citizens are servicing water lines, there is a chance of contamination to the whole system if not done properly.
After a lot of unrest among residents on private drives, because 8” lines would be too expensive for just a few people and the township had approved the smaller lines for many years, Sumpter passed a resolution grandfathering in all the current water lines, unless the city or state said it was illegal.
At the time, Uutinen said, “Basically, the City of Detroit has a stranglehold on us out here…I’m not an attorney, but to me, spaghetti lines are illegal as of this moment.”
Fifteen years later, after several false starts, the Odyssey Drive residents have agreed to a special assessment district to put their lines in compliance and assure their water is safe.