Wastewater Routing Study may save money for VBT residents

A Wastewater Routing Study to be performed by engineer Maria Sedki and staff at a cost not to exceed $165,000 was approved by the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees at its May 7 meeting.
Funds will be allocated from the Water & Sewer Contracted Services Account, from the Water & Sewer non-restricted fund balance. Sedki is with the engineering firm of Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr Huber, Inc.
James Taylor, director of Water and Sewer, explained the situation to the board.
He said Sedki has been working with the township’s SAW Grant Asset Management Project and they have determined a number of needs in the overall evaluation of the township’s sanitary system performance.
The scope of this proposed study does not fall within the criteria of the SAW Grant and therefore they are using money from the Water & Sewer budget.
Director Taylor said the township has three main separate sanitary sewer systems, South Huron Valley (SHVUA), Rouge Valley (RVSDS) and Downriver (DUWA), with Ypsilanti Community Utility Authority (YCUA) serving a handful of customers. Using GIS and other available tools, models show how the sanitary flows operate within each of the systems.
These models represent the individual systems, but does not give an accurate representation of the township-wide system.
Potential maintenance and operational needs will be determined along with proposals to save money by, perhaps, dropping out of the Rouge Valley and redirecting flow to one of the other systems. Rouge Valley is on the brink of upgrading its system and users will have to help pay for the bond, with VBT’s share being about $1 million.
Also, the study will determine the accuracy of the actual flows that come through the VBT system from the City of Belleville to the DUWA system. Presently, the City of Belleville is assigned a percentage of flow that is deducted from the township billing from the DUWA system. The township wants to determine the accuracy of those estimates, Taylor said.
Nine flow meters will be temporarily inserted at different points within the system to determine more accurate flows, which would also provide information towards creating one unified calibrated system model.
They need to gather data on maximum flows throughout periods of heavy rainfall to determine the capacities of the system. Weather is the only cost variable to the project, with a cost range of $120,000 to $165,000, Taylor said.
If the right weather conditions aren’t available this fall, they will test again in the spring, he said.
In other business at the one-hour-and-four-minute meeting May 7, the board:
• Approved changing the time of the township board’s regular meeting to 6 p.m., instead of the usual 7 p.m. It begins with the May 21 meeting;
• Approved changing the time of the Water/Sewer Commission monthly meeting to 5:30 p.m. from the usual 6:30 p.m., effective immediately;
• Approved the Ordinance Department’s contract for grass cutting services with Wiese’s Lawn Care, Inc.;
• Approved special land use by Ashley Crossroads North, LLC to construct a distribution center consisting of three buildings totaling about 1,579,325 square feet on properties on the north side of Ecorse Road, west of Haggerty Road. Trustee Paul White had asked how much tax it would pay for this facility and Ron Akers, director of planning and economic development, got the figures. He said the building will have a value of $22 million, with a tax value of $11 million, so the township will get about $80,700 in property tax per year. When asked about the vacancy rate, Ashley Capital said they have 22 million square feet of buildings in Michigan, which are 95% occupied. “We can’t build fast enough. We’re just about full right now.” Supervisor Kevin McNamara said Ashley Capital’s building is bigger than Amazon’s and Ashley has no tax abatements. McNamara also said the township has had no complaints about Ashley Capital’s other buildings on the south side of Ecorse Road;
• Approved the first reading of an ordinance amendment to allow the public safety department to enforce parks and recreation rules;
• Approved the first reading of an ordinance amendment to exempt adjoining property owners from having to clean ice and snow from the Iron Belle Trail, which legally is considered a sidewalk;
• Approved the first reading of an ordinance amendment to exempt adjoining property owners from having responsibility for maintenance of the Iron Belle Trail, which legally is considered a sidewalk;
• Approved the selection of Davenport Brothers Construction Co., Inc. for the Quirk Park Improvements contract for $574,933, the lowest of three sealed bids. This includes site preparation, paving, building construction, construction coordination, and restoration for the splash park, new playground equipment and pavilion at Quirk Park. The shovels are expected to be in the ground within a few weeks and children are expected to be running through the water in August;
• Approved the 2019 individual hourly rate schedule for Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc., as needed engineering services. This represents a 2.5% increase and is good for 18 months;
• Approved the first reading of an ordinance to rezone 1123 Savage Rd., at the northwest corner of Savage and Martinsville, from M-1, Light Industrial, to R1-B, Single Family Residential;
• Approved the second readings and adoptions of ordinances to rezone 13440 Martinsville Rd. and 13510 Martinsville Rd. from M-1, Light Industrial, to R1-B, Single Family Residential;
• Heard Clerk Leon Wright announce that early that day his office conducted the seventh annual student council election at Belleville High School. He said 800 students of the 1,200 eligible voted using ballots printed using donations. He said they also registered eligible students to vote and signed up a dozen to help run an election;
• Heard Clerk Wright explain that opting out of PA 152 hardcap of 20% copay for health insurance, VBT did a 10% copay and set up a health care savings plan. He said the 20% copay would have saved $375,000, but with the VBT plan they were able to save $569,000 so far this year and will be $600,000 by the end of the year. “You don’t always have to take the hard way out,” Clerk Wright said. He said this is the second straight year for a reduction in Blue Cross/Blue Shield costs for the township; and
• Heard resident Wade Griffin say he has lived at Country Walk since 2005 and had worked at the Detroit Police Department before retirement. He complained about builder Bruce Gilbert dumping piles of dirt on a lot next to his, blocking handicap school bus access for a neighbor child, and other irregularities. “He’s doing what he wants,” Griffin said. Supervisor Kevin McNamara said, “He’s going to be building for a while. I’ll come out” to look over the situation.
Closed-Door Session
After the work/study session of the township board on May 6, a closed-door session was held “for the purpose of deliberation a strategic course of action in relation to the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement.” The Independent asked which union contract it was and Supervisor McNamara said, “All the unions!” Those going into the closed door session included Public Safety Director Gregory Laurain, Fire Chief Amy Brow, and Human Resources Director Nicole Sumpter.