Oxford Township stands to gain 851 water customers and an estimated 400 gallons per minute of additional water capacity thanks to local developer Greg Christopher’s proposed donation.
For the sum of $1, the owner of the Auburn Hills-based Christopher Investment Co. requested the township assume ownership and operation of the four private drinking water wells that currently serve the Lake Villa Mobile Home Park on Lakeville Road. He’s also planning to give the township an easement across his property which will allow for a water main loop from Lakeville Road to Drahner Road.
‘We really don’t want to be in the water business,? said Christopher, who’s owned Lake Villa since 1995. ‘It’s better for municipalities to run the water systems and the sewer systems, I think. And that’s the feeling of the (Michigan Department of Environment Quality).?
Township officials last week voted 5-1 to have the Water/Sewer Committee look into transferring Lake Villa’s wells, get all the information and bring their findings back to the board of trustees.
‘I think it’s a real win-win situation,? Christopher told officials.
A March 1 letter from the MDEQ stated the agency has ‘no objection for the transfer? of Lake Villa’s water supply to the township water system.
Supervisor Bill Dunn said the addition of Lake Villa’s wells to the municipal system ‘will benefit the whole township by giving us greater capacity.?
‘I think the township’s going to get probably about 400 gallons a minute more (in capacity),? said township engineer Shannon Parry, of Rowe, Inc. ‘It might be more than that.?
Lake Villa’s wells produce ‘so much more water than we need,? according to Christopher.
This will help the township meet its ‘goal? of increasing capacity by a total of 2,000 gallons per minute, the ‘magic number? Parry said was determined in 1999 as what would be needed to meet the municipality’s water needs when it reached its ‘build out? point.
‘Build out? is ‘when the entire water distribution system is fully built out, all of the properties are developed, all the homes are constructed, and there’s a (Certificate of Occupancy) in every last one of them,? she explained.
At that point, it was determined the township ‘would need an additional 2,000 gallons a minute more than we’re pumping right now, more than we have capacity for right now.?
‘It’s not anything that we need right at this immediate time,? Parry explained.
To help reach the goal of 2,000 gallons per minute more in capacity, the township will construct a new well field on its 27.9-acre parcel at Seymour Lake and Granger roads, which will yield an additional 1,600 gallons per minute, according to Parry.
Given this, the township ‘would need about 400 gallons a minute more,? she said. ‘I think now we could probably get the additional 400 we need from Lake Villa.?
Parry noted taking over Lake Villa’s wells would allow the township to ‘gain the balance of the capacity? it needs without spending additional funds to purchase land and conduct well testing.
Dunn noted Lake Villa’s wells are free of contaminants, so no treatment plant would be needed there.
‘We have hardly any iron. We have no arsenic,? said Christopher, who described the water quality as ‘excellent.?
?(Lake Villa’s) never had a violation in 33 years,? he noted.
‘The iron levels in the wells at Lake Village Mobile Home Park are substantially lower,? Parry confirmed. ‘It does not require treatment.?
‘All the wells are brand new basically,? according to Christopher.
The oldest well, an 8-inch, was installed in 1995. Two 12-inch wells and one 8-well were installed between 2000 and 2005.
Besides gaining capacity, adding Lake Villa to the township system would instantly give it an additional 851 water users and paying customers.
How Lake Villa residents would be billed is an issue for officials to decide.
Currently, the mobile home park residents don’t have individual water meters.
According to Dan Myrick, vice president of Christopher Investment Co. and an Oxford resident, they pay for water through ‘occupancy charges? based on the number of people living in a unit above two persons.
It’s $10 per month more for each person over two occupants (three people equals $10, four people equals $20) with a ‘maximum? of $25 per month.
If individual meters were installed and individual bills sent, Myrick said ‘those occupancy charges would go away.?
‘We’ve done (this) historically,? he said citing Indpendence Woods in Clarkston as an example. Wherever they’ve installed individal meters, they were ‘pretty well received.?
Christopher said the Oakland County Drain Commission, which operates the township’s system, ‘prefers? having one ‘master meter? measuring water usuage for the entire park and sending one bill to the owner. He said reading one meter and sending one bill is easier.
Treasurer Joe Ferrari expressed his concern finding a fair and equitable way for Lake Villa residents to help the township pay off the $17.725 million in Oakland County-issued bonds being used to finance all the system improvements, some of which are already underway.
Those improvements include a 1 million gallon elevated water storage tank on N. Oxford Road, up to four treatment plants designed to remove aresenic and iron from the well water, and eight new water mains plus a raw water line to the planned treatment plant at Seymour Lake and Granger roads.
To pay for these improvements, each of the township’s approximately 2,185 water system users is now paying a $10.67 per month capital charge on their quarterly bill from the county.
‘Something’s got to be worked out where those residents (Lake Villa) also share in that bond debt,? Ferrari said.
The same holds true for the 270-unit Parkhurst Estates on M-24, south of Drahner. The township took over that park’s well system within the last few years, but because it uses master, not individual, meters, the entire park is currently being charged $10.67 per month.
If the township board wishes to change what Parkhurst pays and what Lake Villa would pay, Ferrari said officials would have to decide whether to charge each customer the full $32 per quarter like everyone else or $19.20 based on the fact that mobile homes aren’t counted as full residential units when it comes to water and sewer calculations.
Parry said mobile homes are ‘not considered a full unit? because ‘they don’t have the large yards that people might water? and ‘they’re typically not using as much water as a single family home or at least that’s the way it was in the past.?
‘I don’t necessarily believe that that’s the case now,? Parry explained, ‘but nobody’s done anything to change (it).?
In addition to the wells, Christopher also plans to give the township an easement along the east side of his Lake Villa property, so a water main can be looped from Lakeville Road to Drahner Road, giving the entire water system redundancy and greater reliability.
Dunn praised Christopher for his willingness to donate all this to the township.
‘I wish all of our developers were as generous and community-minded as Mr. Christopher,? he said. ‘He’s certainly a role model for others.?
‘If something can work out and it helps everybody, I think it’s the right thing to do,? Christopher said.