DDA helps lower cost of new Dorr sewer project

By Ryan Lewis
Staff Writer

DORR TWP.—Residents in a newly proposed sewer district near Dorr’s downtown can expect a letter soon inviting them to an informational meeting about a possible upcoming project.

Dorr Township Board members voted to schedule the information meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, at the township hall. The date was chosen so that it would be after the general election and before the opening of hunting season.

The $1.5 million dollar sewer project would connect 157 hook-ups to the Dorr Leighton Wastewater Authority’s sewage treatment plant east of Moline.

The project is the second in a series of proposals to bring sewer service to the area in anticipation of the county road commission’s road rebuilding planned along 142nd Avenue in 2010.

The first project—$10-million plan—was rejected in February by a petition that gathered signatures from 274 homeowners and 18 businesses who opposed the project. It included the Litchfield Downs and Ranchero Estates subdivisions in its plans and could have cost each hook-up an estimated $12,000.

This time around, most of the parcels of land in the district are located along 142nd Avenue between Park Street and Redstock Drive.

Since most of the downtown area would be served, the Dorr Downtown Development Authority has committed $400,000 to the project; Wayland Union Public Schools would contribute an estimated $100,000, as it would serve Wayland Elementary School.

That brings the cost to approximately $1 million for businesses and residents.

Speaking at the township board meeting Oct. 2, township supervisor Don Kaczanowski said his proposed plan has that cost split evenly between businesses and residents, bringing the estimated cost to $6,369 per hook-up.

Add to that a connection fee to cover the cost of sending an increased volume of sewage to the treatment plant.

Kaczanowski estimated that the residential connection fee would be $2,400; a business that used four times as much as an average household would pay a connection fee four times as large.

Vacant land would pay a connection fee equal to two residential-equivalents per acre.

Financing for the project cost and the connection fee will be available for 20- and 40-year periods.

Residents and businesses would also be responsible to pay to hook up to the sewer lines, which might cost around $500, though estimates will vary between contractors and the work needed.

Those with the sewer service can also expect a quarterly sewer usage bill of $88.

Residents concerned with how those bills will add up will have the opportunity to express those concerns at the meeting.

“We haven’t decided anything yet,” Kaczanowski said. “We’ve just set this meeting up, and we’ll have our attorney and our engineer on hand.

“We want to get a feeling on whether people want to proceed with the project.

“Certainly, the economy’s a factor, so this will tell us if we’ve got something people want. If we get the feeling people aren’t for it, we won’t proceed.

He encouraged residents to call him at the township hall with questions that may require research so that he and township officials would have a chance to research the answers. The number to the hall is (616) 681-9874; it is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m.

Kaczanowski said that hooking up to the sewer line will be required under the sewer authority’s ordinance—even if a resident’s current sewage system is brand new or in perfect working order.

Brandon Mieras, representing the project’s engineering firm Williams & Works of Grand Rapids, said the requirement makes it possible to fund the project up front since its construction would need to be paid for up front.

To do that, the township would be required to sell bonds to pay for the construction. As residents and businesses steadily paid off their project and connection costs over 20 or 40 years, that money would pay back the bonds.

“The bonds’ underwriters would want to see that revenue coming in to pay off the bonds,” Mieras said.

If the sewer project is constructed, since the special assessments paying for it will be liens against the affected properties, residents refusing to pay risk losing their property.

Williams & Works have been putting resources into the project design since 2005 and have been paid approximately $12,000 in relatively minimal fees to cover the cost of planning and drafting the sewer plans and taking soil borings.

Mieras said those costs would be recaptured by the township if or when it sells the bonds for the project.

Though smaller in overall scope, the new sewer project allows for future expansion into the Litchfield Downs and Ranchero Estates subdivisions.

Ryan Lewis may be contacted at (269) 673-5534 or e-mailed at rmlewis@allegannews.com.