A potential $1.6 million problem is facing Oxford Township officials as the Lake Villa Manufactured Home Community on Lakeville Rd. is facing the very real possibility of losing its only source of water.
That’s how much the estimated cost is to hook up Lake Villa to the township’s water system.
It appears this connection might be necessary because half of the wells that supply the 851-unit park have failed.
‘One of the wells has been out of service for a year or two,? explained township engineer Jim Sharpe, president of the Oxford-based Sharpe Engineering, as he addressed the township board at the May 13 meeting. ‘And about a week ago, another one of the wells broke and is out of service. So currently, there’s only two of the four wells that are working.?
Sharpe told township officials the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office (WRC) is ‘afraid that these wells are all going to fail, basically, sometime in the near future.?
‘If those wells do go out, the township is responsible to get those people water,? he told the board. ‘They don’t have their own individual wells, so we’ll have to truck in water or whatever (else) we have to do.?
‘We’re getting real close to a crisis situation here,? said township Supervisor Bill Dunn. ‘If the other wells go, there’s going to be a lot of upset people.?
The township is responsible because it has owned Lake Villa’s wells since September 2006 when the park’s former owner, Greg Christopher, gave them to the municipality.
Even though these wells only service the manufactured home community and are not tied into the municipal system, Lake Villa residents are township water customers because their wells are municipal property that’s maintained by the WRC.
The township has two options to deal with this issue.
‘We can continue to repair (Lake Villa’s wells) and spend a lot of money repairing an old well site or we can try to extend (township) water down to the Lake Villa Mobile Home Park,? Sharpe said.
The WRC estimated the township would need to spend $409,000 between now and 2018 ‘to replace the outdated and failing equipment just to keep the (Lake Villa) well site operational,? according to a May 14 e-mail from Sharpe. ‘That does not include the ongoing (operations and maintenance) costs and any additional problems that periodically occur at the site. And with the recent failure of well #2, that cost could go higher depending on the work that is required to get that well back in service.?
‘It’s not just the wells,? said township Trustee Jack Curtis, who serves on the water and sewer committee. ‘It’s also the equipment ? the tanks, the relief valves ? that need replacing, too. It’s not just as easy as putting a well in or taking a well out. There’s still hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair (needed for) that well station in ancillary equipment.?
‘The WRC says that everything’s in pretty bad condition, that they just keep it limping along, basically,? Sharpe noted. ‘They’ve voiced their concern.?
The second option involves extending a 16-inch township water main from the Willow Lake subdivision to Lake Villa. It would run along Lakeville Road.
Sharpe estimated doing this could cost approximately $1.6 million.
When the township was making major improvements to its water system 10 years ago, plans for this main extension were created, but this part of the project was later scrapped due to financial reasons.
Sharpe told the board investing money to salvage and maintain Lake Villa’s wells would be like ‘putting lipstick on a pig.?
‘We can try to keep repairing these things and bringing in some new equipment and so forth, but in the long run, it’s not part of the township’s master water main plan,? he told the board. ‘The plan is to loop a water line from Willow Lake through Lake Villa, down to Drahner Road and back out to M-24. So, (extending the main to Lake Villa) would accomplish a portion of the township’s water main master plan.?
If Lake Villa were to be connected to the township system, its residents would have to begin paying a quarterly $38.25 debt service charge (a total of $153 annually).
This fee is what the township uses to help pay off the approximately $10.9 million bond debt incurred in 2005 for major system improvements such as the construction of two water treatment plants and a 1-million-gallon elevated water storage tank. The bond debt is scheduled to be paid off in October 2030.
In March 2007, the township board voted 4-3 to not charge Lake Villa residents for debt service until the community is hooked up to the municipal system.
In an effort to be ‘proactive? and ‘get ahead of this? before it becomes a crisis situation, Dunn made a motion, which was approved 7-0, to authorize Sharpe Engineering to update the water main plans from Willow Lake to Lake Villa for a cost of $40,000.
‘I’m good with that for now,? Sharpe said. ‘It’s based on an estimate. If I need more, I’ll come back, but I’m thinking that’s going to work.?
As part of Dunn’s motion, the water and sewer committee was directed meet with township Treasurer Joe Ferrari to come up with ways to pay for the project.
‘It’s going to be a struggle,? Ferrari said. ‘I’ll have to take a look at all the numbers. It’s not going to be easy.?
According to Clerk Curtis Wright, going into 2014, the township had $1.7 million in cash in its water fund per the audit.
Last year, he said, based on unaudited figures, the township was able to add $115,000 to the fund.
So far this year, the township has had 28 new connections to its water system, according to Wright. The township charges a tap (or connection) fee of $6,075 per Residential Equivalent Unit, which is equal to one single family home.
‘That’s on pace for roughly 100 connections for the year, which will bring in another $600,000,? he told the board.