Oxford Township officials last week selected the route they would like to see for a water main extension that would allow the Lake Villa Manufactured Home Community to connect to the municipal system.
The only question is will the Oxford Board of Education agree with the township’s choice as the new pipe would have to cross the grounds of Lakeville Elementary and Oxford Middle School to reach its destination.
Township officials voted 6-1 to authorize spending up to $87,150 for their engineer, Jim Sharpe, to perform the necessary design work for a proposed 6,925-foot water main extension project, if the school district agrees to this route.
The project would involve extending a 16-inch-diameter water main from the Willow Lake subdivision eastward along the north side of Lakeville Rd., then cross the road and head south and east across school property to reach Lake Villa. The final 1,000 feet of main approaching the mobile home park would consist of 8-inch-diameter pipe.
Connecting Lake Villa to the township water system would end the park’s dependence on four wells that exclusively serve it. The well system is old and has been experiencing problems. Although they’re currently working, officials no longer consider Lake Villa’s wells to be reliable and fear a potential water crisis in the park if they fail.
The township is responsible for Lake Villa because it has owned the park’s wells since September 2006 when a previous owner donated them to the municipality.
The proposed point of entry for the main extension across school property would be just west of Lakeville Elementary and the pipe would end up running along one side of Wildcat Drive, a private boulevard road leading to the middle school, which is located south of the elementary school.
Sharpe estimated the total cost of the project would be $2.195 million.
The problem is the school district favors having the new main enter at a point east of Lakeville Elementary and run the entire length of Wildcat Drive on one side. The district would like to use this project as an opportunity to repair this well-travelled road.
‘They didn’t want to come in on the south side of Lakeville Elementary and (repave) two-thirds of Wildcat Drive,? explained Sharpe, who had just come from the school board meeting that same evening. ‘They want to do the entire roadway. They figure let’s just go from start to finish and get one whole side of the boulevard done. Then, when they have the money, they’ll do the other half of it.?
Trustee Jack Curtis noted the district has an additional concern about having the new main enter west of Lakeville Elementary and it revolves around future development.
‘They didn’t want to restrict the amount of land they may (have to) possibly build on (in the future) with a water main easement running through their property,? he said.
According to Sharpe, the district indicated it might be willing to go with the route west of Lakeville Elementary, however, they would require some insurance from the township.
‘If we put the water line in, they wanted a clause that if they added on to the (elementary) building and the water main was in conflict with their building, the township would pay, in full, for the relocation of the water main around their building,? he said.
Sharpe said he could try to ‘push? the main as far west as possible, so the district could make a ‘reasonable addition? to the elementary school without having to move the pipe.
The school’s preferred route, east of Lakeville Elementary along the entire length of Wildcat Drive, is more costly than the township’s pick. It increases the main extension’s length to 7,950 feet and raises the estimated cost to $2.598 million.
Because of this, Supervisor Bill Dunn said that route is ‘completely out? for him as an option unless the school district is willing to ‘pay the difference? between the two.
‘They will up the ante with (regard to) repairing the road, but in terms of the additional water main length, they were not in favor of (paying for) that,? Sharpe replied.
Sharpe estimated it costs approximately $200 per foot to install 16-inch water main.
According to a proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the township and school district, they would agree to split the cost of the road work. The township would pay a third, while the district pays two-thirds.
If the option the township favors is selected, the estimated cost for repairing Wildcat Drive is $315,000. If the option favored by the district is picked, that cost increases to an estimated $480,000.
Dunn noted if the township went with its original plan, the district would have to pay 100 percent of the cost to repair Wildcat Dr.
That’s because the original route didn’t cross school property. Officials were looking at running 6,000 feet of 16-inch water main from the Willow Lake subdivision to the east along the north side of Lakeville Rd., then cross the road and head directly into Lake Villa. The estimated cost for this route is $1.684 million.
Dunn made a motion to direct Sharpe to inform school officials that if the township’s preferred route west of Lakeville Elementary is not acceptable to them, the municipality is going to proceed with the original route along Lakeville Rd. However, as part of the motion, it was stated the route east of Lakeville Elementary is acceptable to the township, if the district is willing to pay the additional cost.
It was approved 7-0.
Although the routes crossing school property are more costly, township officials have been considering them for a few reasons.
One, they would allow Lakeville Elementary and Oxford Middle School to connect to the township water system and become paying customers. Right now, both schools are served by the village water system.
Two, they would allow for the installation of fire hydrants to protect school property.
‘I don’t have any water at all at Lakeville Elementary or the bus garage,? said Fire Chief Pete Scholz. ‘There’s no hydrants close by or anything.?
Three, running a main across school property would allow the township to, at some point in the future, loop its water system in that area without having to extend the pipe so far to the east (almost to Grampian Drive), which, officials say, would make doing this a much more expensive proposition.
‘It’s a much shorter route,? Sharpe said.
Township officials expect the property surrounding Tullamore Lake to be developed into housing in the near future. If that happens, the development would have to connect to the township water system.
The water main supplying the Tullamore development could link the potential main running through school property to a future main along E. Drahner Rd, which would, in turn, be connected to a main on M-24, thus forming a loop. ‘Anytime you can loop a water system, it’s beneficial to the overall system,? Sharpe said.
Having a looped system, as opposed to one with mains that dead-end, enables water to flow from more than one direction, which means users can still have access to it in the event of line breaks or repairs.
Sharpe explained to township officials the school board did not make any decisions regarding the project that evening because it didn’t feel comfortable doing so with two of its members absent and it had some questions about how the district was going to fund it.
However, he noted, ‘They were very much in favor of the project. I’m fairly confident that they will work with us and we will come up with an agreement.?
Trustee Sue Bellairs expressed her misgivings about dealing with the school district.
‘I hate to say this, but the schools already burned us before when it came to the liaison officer that we agreed on,? she said. ‘I would hate to see us put in (a water main) down here now and then (later, they) say, ‘You’d better take it out because we’re going to do this.?
‘I think our greatest concern right now is getting the water down there (to Lake Villa) as fast as we can and we could start that right now with the original plan.?
Curtis agreed time is of the essence. He believes the availability of contractors and the prices they charge are going to be impacted by the ‘debacle? with the Flint city water system. He’s been talking to excavators and waterline installers and ‘they’re all chomping at the bit, waiting for some monster money to be released up there? to fix things.
‘The longer we wait, the more this (main extension) costs,? Curtis said.
He also believes the township can’t afford to wait given the deteriorating condition of Lake Villa’s well system. ‘We just paid for a generator repair at Lake Villa. At any possible time, this thing can fail,? Curtis said.
‘Right now, Lake Villa needs water. That should be really the only thing (we’re) looking at,? Bellairs said. ‘All I’ve heard is how bad (those wells are) and we’ve got to do something immediately . . . I think we need to just get it there ? worry about the other stuff later.?
If the township, for some reason, decided not to connect Lake Villa to its system, it would still be facing a huge financial obligation.
Clerk Curtis Wright pointed out right now, the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office (WRC), which the township pays to maintain its water system, has about $190,000 in improvements scheduled for the Lake Villa well system in 2017.
He explained the WRC is also ‘under pressure? from the state to install a water storage tank to serve the park. This would cost approximately $1.6 million and ‘is on us to make sure that happens,? Wright said.