Commissioner Ken Baker said he wants the Clean Water Plant to be a source of pride and an asset to the community.

The Three Rivers City Commission has voted to direct City Manager Joe Bippus to “take the necessary steps to make the Clean Water Plant an asset to our community” and to make the undertaking “the highest priority.”

The action came Tuesday evening (October 6th) as the commission unanimously approved a motion by Commissioner Ken Baker to address concerns about the plant raised by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).  In addition to making the plant an asset to the community, the motion mentioned stopping “the polluting of the land and waters of our community” and eliminating “the foul odor that exists around the plant.”

The motion was the end result of a presentation focused on the Clean Water Plant and a proposed sewer system that would serve residences around Fisher Lake and be connected to the city’s sewer system and wastewater treatment facility.

Bippus provided an overview and, in discussing the Fisher Lake sewer, said, “We’ve told them we want to make sure our plant, our collection system, is capable of handling the situation, whatever they’re bringing to us.  We’re trying to be very cautious.”

Regarding DEQ concerns about the plant, Bippus said, “We don’t believe the violations are astronomical or giant things that can’t be overcome.  Everything can be fixed, everything can be taken care of.  We feel very confident of that, but we’re going to do it first.  We’re going to take care of it first.”

Paul Romano of Jones & Henry Engineers, Ltd.

Bippus introduced Paul Romano of Jones & Henry Engineers, Ltd., the Kalamazoo-based engineering firm working with the city regarding the Fisher Lake sewer project and the Clean Water Plant concerns cited by the DEQ.  Regarding the Fisher Lake sewer, Romano said, “The plant is easily meeting its limits.  With the addition of Fisher Lake, it can continue to easily meet its limits.  I don’t think that should be a concern to anyone and that’s consistent with the recommendations we made over a year ago and it’s consistent today.”

In discussing the violations cited by the DEQ, Romano said the items “tend to be a lot of operation and maintenance items and also tend to be a lot of permit-related items that are important, but don’t really have any sort of real bearing as far as the city’s ability to handle . . . more coming from Fisher Lake.”

Romano said his firm has “put together a summary of their concerns and what will become a ‘letter of response’” to the DEQ.  A “Second Violation Notice” dated September 18th and delivered by certified mail asks the city to submit by October 21st a schedule by which it will correct the violations listed in the notice and outlines what, at a minimum, the response is to include.

Mayor Allen Balog asked that “each of the commissioners get a copy of exactly what the response is.”

In commenting on language from the DEQ regarding violations, Balog said, “When I read stuff like that, I don’t know how you sugarcoat this, downplay it, say they don’t understand how we do things.  It looks pretty serious to me.  We’re going to take over a hundred-thousand dollar hit in reduction in shared revenue.  We certainly don’t have money to be paying fines.”

Indicating that he was speaking for himself as mayor, Balog said, “I’d like to say to the city manager that this case be your number one priority.  We need to get these items resolved and, as far as my position on taking on Fisher Lake as a customer, we have to be violation-free before I would ever vote for this.”

Baker’s motion – conveyed verbally and in a handout he had prepared for the meeting – followed.  In explaining his motion, Baker said, “Our Clean Water Plant should be a pride of our city and not an embarrassment and, right now, that plant is an embarrassment to me personally.  I’m appalled about it, appalled by the violations.”

Baker’s motion directs the city manager – by the first meeting in December – to update the commission on the following.

•    Percent of the plant’s available space for taking in new customers
•    Money available in the Clean Water Plant’s budget for updates to the plant
•    Future growth analysis for expanding the Clean Water Plant with existing funds
•    Periodic updates on any major repairs or upgrades that have started at the plant with a final report when they are completed
•    Notify the commission at the next scheduled commission meeting of any violation notice issued by the DEQ and the actions taken to correct the violation
•    Establish a new up-to-date policy for industrial waste and industrial pre-treatment procedure – including the procedure to be used when a violation occurs, the penalties for a violation, and the method the city will use to correct the problem.