Article published Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Whiteford Township Water-project efforts progress By MARK REITER BLADE STAFF WRITER
OTTAWA LAKE - Efforts to bring water to Whiteford Township is gathering momentum as public meetings were recently held to explain a proposal to build a $7.4 million water system using a state loan program.
At hearings last week and the week before, residents learned about recent developments in the water project that is designed to meet the township's current and future water needs and address water quality problems.
Bernice Heidelberg, township clerk, said the township is mulling applying for a 40-year loan at 2.3 percent interest from the Rural Community Assistance Program to pay for the project that would involve creating three separate districts in the township.
Ottawa Lake is among the few areas in the county that doesn't have a municipal water system.
The township is working with Monroe County and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to resolve water contamination that has been plaguing the township for several years.
The agencies have given the township a window of three to five years to fix the problems.
Township Engineer David Kubiske said the informational meetings were required as part of the loan application process.
"These were the first steps of many steps that are required by the program," he said.
The township board voted unanimously to start the application process with the federal agency.
Township officials said the water for the municipal system would likely be supplied from Toledo through Sylvania and the South County Water District.
Mrs. Heidelberg said one of the districts would bring water from Sylvania to serve the subdivision at Hawthorne, Muller, and Green roads near the state line, up along Old Memorial Highway, and into Ottawa Lake to residents on Brown, Railroad, and Warren streets.
Under the water proposal, water from lines in Sylvania also would be used to supply the industrial park area at Schnipke Drive and along Sterns Road. The lines would be installed along Acres and Hicker roads to distribute to the area.
A third district would have water coming from South County Water District lines from Bedford Township at Adler Road and into the township along Sterns to the north side of Community Park, Mrs. Heidelberg said.
Mr. Kubiske said dicussions have been held with Sylvania officials as well as the South County Water District, of which Whiteford Towship is a member, on the project. He said the township hopes to meet with Toledo officials.
The costs and assessments to home owners for the project have not been determined, township officials said.
A municipal well at the fire department in Ottawa Lake that serves about 14 households is under a health advisory because testing confirmed E.coli contamination in the water.
The township has installed chlorination equipment to treat water drawn from the well, a system that the state and county have deemed as a temporary fix until an improved water system can be built.
Mrs. Heidelberg said homes in other areas in the township have also had water quality problems, with the geology that lies underneath a large part of the county as being blamed for the bacteria outbreak.
In 2007 the township began the application process to obtain a grant from the Rural Community Assistance Program, a nonprofit agency that provides assistance to rural communities for water and sewers,
However, a survey conducted for the grant found that the township's average income level was too high for it to qualify for federal money to pay for most of the costs of a water line. Permanent Link
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