As reported previously on this website, the quarterly cost to property owners using the Clark Lake sewer system will rise by 49%. You will see this increase in your next bill from Columbia Township. The Township explained the reason as the cost to replace failing grinders and to repair the lift stations.
Increases will also impact Lake Columbia and Vineyard Lake, but their replacement costs are less than Clark Lake. Why? According to Township Treasurer, John Calhoun, the “Clark Lake system was set up for E1 grinder pumps in 1994.” Each E1 grinder costs $1,750. “E1’s are considerably more expensive than Barnes or Meyers pumps that cost slightly more than $900.”
John Calhoun further explains “Lake Columbia and Vineyard Lakes have their own lift stations separate from the Clark Lake system. The grinder pumps for Clark Lake were designed as high capacity pumps in the 1990’s when Clark Lake was the only pressurized sewer system in the area and the E1 pumps were state of the art. The other systems utilize Barnes and Meyer pumps that were later designs and less expensive. Unfortunately, there is no retrofit for the E1 except for the Flyght pump that is over $2,000. The sewer ordinance adopted in 1994 was structured on a Residential Equivalent Unit basis for uniformity in billing. A metered system would be the only equitable way to bill, but so far, Leoni Township will not allow for metered billing even though Columbia township billed commercial customers on a metered basis until 2014 when a court ruling ordered us to bill them on the REU basis.”
Here is the letter Columbia Township is sending to sewer customers.
The Township had these graphics created to explain how the money will be spent.
So if you live at Clarklake according to this flow chart they are replacing 100 pumps each year for the next 5 years and it cost $180.000.00 a year to replace the 100 pumps so each pump cost $18,000.00 a pump to replace?? And the pump only cost $1750.00??? and $16,250.00 to install a new pump in a hole that already has been dug, had electric supplied, must be the unplugging and turning off the switch or the effort to pull it out-I also know that the pump can be recycled since it is mostly metal. WOW.
Check your math
The sewer system deal was, is & will always be a BAD deal.
The problem is there is no solution in the future.
C.L. residents are looking more more like high paying Detroit Water & Sewer system residents.
Can we convert to Barnes and Myers pumps? The life expectancy is the same. The cost is about half of an E1
Just to clarify the decimal point error in a previous comment. $180,000 divided by 100 pumps results in $1,800 per pump, not $18,000. Working the other way, $1,750 per pump fresults in a total cost of $175,000. I have seen no estimates on installation costs. I don’t like the situation at all, but the reasoning presented is sound. Monday morning quarterbacking of something that happened decades ago is pointless.