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At $2 million for six homes, sewers put on hold
(by Sue Reid - August 13, 2009)
At $2 million for six homes, sewers put on hold
By SUE REID
Extending sanitary-sewer service to residents along Chagrin River Road in Solon most likely will be driven by future development.
That was the consensus of City Council's public works committee last week, following a presentation by consultants Camp Dresser and McKee, which detailed options for sewers along the road.
The committee approved a motion to accept the recommendation of the city's engineering and public works department not to move forward with sewers. If sewers are installed in the future, they would be through Solon's northeast lift station, officials said. Also as part of the motion, the city would explore possible easements for the future.
Currently, the six homes on Solon's portion of the road are on septic systems. City Engineer John J. Busch said Chagrin River Road is one of a few isolated areas where the city does not have sanitary-sewer service. The city had agreed to re-study the area after inquiries from a resident on the road. Solon recently completed sewers in other areas of the city, including Aurora Road (Route 43).
Mr. Busch said the previous sanitary-sewer master plan the city is updating had indicated that sewer service to Chagrin River Road be developer driven. The outcome of a recent review remained the same. "If a developer would come and want to build a subdivision in the area," he said, "they would be responsible to install the necessary sanitary service."
The other options, according to the consultants, involve tying into Geauga County's waste-water plant at McFarland Creek in Bainbridge or bringing a sanitary-sewer line to Solon's northeast pump station. Both options carry price tags of over $2 million.
That would place a hardship on the residents if they were required to pay a portion of the cost, said Chagrin River Road resident John Hallberg, who was in attendance at the meeting.
"It really doesn't make sense to do this at this time and place a burden on the residents," Councilman and committee member John T. Scott said.
The consultants report detailed installing sanitary service on the road for both existing property and future development. They designed the option to cover a potential of up to 100 homes.
The first alternative, which would be connecting to the city's sewer system, utilized a new lift station to convey sanitary flows from the properties. The biggest obstacle would be crossing under the Chagrin River, Edward St. John, a technical adviser with Camp Dresser and McKee said. Another disadvantage to this option would be the potential for odors, he said. This option has a price tag of about $2.05 million.
The second option, which would be to connect to Geauga County's sanitary-sewer system, entails no river crossing, Mr. St. John said. The cost for this option would be about $2.3 million. This option has a higher cost because it requires the building of two lift stations.
Mr. St. John said the costs he presented were based on conceptual, not detailed layouts.
"In any study, there's pros and cons of any alternative," he said.
Mr. St. John told the committee that both alternatives were feasible and can be constructed and permitted.
"Both should be further evaluated down the road," Mr. St. John said.
He said that the challenges both options present involve how the sewer should be sized. "Do you size it for build-out or eight homes?" he said. "You don't want to construct twice."
Mr. Scott asked Mr. St. John if the consultants had any discussion with the Village of Bentleyville because the potential exists for the village to pursue sanitary service in the future.
"There's undeveloped properties in Bentleyville that could likely require sewer service in the future if they were developed," Public Works Director James S. Stanek said.
"They have no intention to send flows to Solon at this time along this route," said Greg Schell, of Camp Dresser and McKee, who is serving as project manager on the master-plan update project.
Mr. Stanek said the city must first look at any potential building in Solon. "We have to first ensure we have sufficient capacity for the folks we have," he said, referring to talks with Bentleyville regarding what's left in the city's capacity to take on additional customers.
"You have to be sure everything that could be built in Solon is accounted for first, before you start looking outside," Mr. Stanek said.
He also said that it is a tough call to figure out what could be needed there in the future and what is needed already for the road.
Mr. Hallberg said the residents on the road should not be assessed for the city doing this. He inquired if any stimulus money would be available for this type of project.
Mr. Stanek said that stimulus funding is usually based on need and "there is no need to mandate sewers in this area.
"There's no compelling reason for us to sewer at this time, but it will probably happen one day in the future because of development," Mr. Stanek said.
"I agree it should be development driven and kept in Solon," Mr. Scott said of sewers in the area.
"We've taken an important first step," Mr. Stanek said of looking at the issue.
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