Chris Burns/Gordon Gallagher – Spring Lake Sewer Pipeline Project
On a frigid and snowy Friday afternoon, we had a surprisingly strong turnout for our meeting, despite the weather. Janna Ercole was announced as the Spring Lake High School Student of the Month. Janna is a senior at SLHS, and will be attending Army West Point on a scholarship there due to her outstanding academic and civic achievements.
Our Spring Lake Village and Township Managers, Chris Burns and Gordon Gallagher, provided us with an update on the various structural improvement projects that we will get to enjoy over the coming year. The main project discussed was the massive sewer pipeline replacement for the force main that runs between Spring Lake Village, and the Grand Haven wastewater treatment plant, underneath the Grand River. The site of said pipeline on the Spring Lake side of the river is along Exchange St. between Cutler and S. Division. The pipeline is at the end of its useful life, and will be replaced. About two years ago there was a hole that developed in the sewer pipe, which allowed untreated sewage to flow into the Grand River at rate of about 500,000 gallons per day. A temporary steel band was used to stop the leak, but that now needs to be addressed in a more permanent fashion. The old pipe is a 12-inch diameter, and the new pipe will be 18 inches, allowing for nearly twice the water flow through the pipe. A directional boring project will take place to drill a new hole for the pipe under the river bottom, connecting from Spring Lake over to the Grand Haven side. This is scheduled to take place beginning in mid February this year, wrapping up by the end of June, 2019. Pump controls on the Spring Lake side will also be replaced as part of the project. A second project that the Village is taking on is an upgrade of a section of Exchange St., including resurfacing, as well as sewer pipe replacement under the street. The force main project cost is $19.1MM , most of which will be paid for by Spring Lake, Grand Haven and Ferrysburg residents via future water/sewer bills. The Village sewer system upgrade under and near Exchange St. will cost $1.63MM. The two projects will be coordinated so that the construction and road closures around Exchange St. will be limited to the February – June window.
More info can be found on both projects on the Spring Lake Village website: http://www.springlakevillage.org/
50/50 Winner: Lisa Ashcraft