Oxford Township officials are exploring the possibility of running a new water main through school district property in order to connect the Lake Villa Manufactured Home Community to the municipal system, so the residents there would no longer have to rely on an aging, deteriorating well system.
Last week, the township board voted 6-1 to continue discussions with the district’s administration and allocate an additional $700,000 for the project.
Officials are looking to extend 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.
Exactly where the main would access school property would have to be decided. Right now, there are two possible points, one west of Lakeville Elementary and one east of it. Although they would start in different spots, both potential main routes would end up running along Wildcat Drive, a private road that leads to the middle school.
‘If you walk (Wildcat Drive), there’s not a lot of room in there, so it’s probably going to go underneath the road,? said township engineer Jim Sharpe, president of Sharpe Engineering. ‘That’s what part of the discussion is (with the school district). If we do go underneath the road, then who pays for that portion of the road? Is (the cost) going to be fully incurred by the township? Are the schools going to pick up part of it? Who’s going to pay for it??
‘The schools want a new drive anyhow,? said township Supervisor Bill Dunn. ‘They want a new drive and we’ll share the cost.?
The option west of Lakeville Elementary would consist of 6,925 feet of pipe and cost an estimated $2.156 million. The option east of Lakeville would include 7,950 feet of pipe and cost an estimated $2.471 million.
Both options would allow Lakeville Elementary, Oxford Middle School and the bus garage to connect to the township water system. Right now, they all receive water from the village system.
Cost estimates for both options are higher than what township officials originally approved for this project back in July.
The original plan was for the majority of a 6,000-foot water main to begin at Willow Lake, run along the north side of Lakeville Rd., then cross the road and head directly into the manufactured home park.
The estimated cost for this plan was $1.6 million. Officials previously voted 4-3 to fund the project by using $600,000 from the water fund and borrowing $1 million from the sewer fund for a period of 10 years at an interest rate to be determined.
Sharpe explained ‘the main intent of whichever route is chosen? is ‘to get those people (in Lake Villa) water.?
‘As soon as possible,? added Dunn.
Connecting Lake Villa to the township water system would end its dependence on a separate well system that exclusively serves the park. This system is old and has been experiencing problems.
Township officials are stepping in because Lake Villa’s well system is their responsibility. Although not connected to the municipal water system, the park’s four wells have been owned by the township since September 2006 and Lake Villa residents are considered township water customers.
Based on past experiences, officials no longer consider the existing well system to be reliable.
In May, one of the wells experienced a pump failure. It was repaired and put back into service, but the situation highlighted the potential for a water crisis in Lake Villa.
Of the four existing wells, one does not operate efficiently, one provides its expected capacity in terms of gallons per minute (gpm) and the remaining two wells do not produce their expected capacity, according to an e-mail that Connie Sims, of the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office (WRC), wrote earlier this year to township Trustee Jack Curtis, who chairs the water/sewer committee.
For example, one of the wells is expected to yield 600 gpm, but its pumping capacity is closer to 300 gpm.
‘There are currently three operating wells with sufficient supply, provided two of those are working in tandem,? according to Sims? e-mail.
Sims explained ‘meeting the domestic demand is not a problem? in Lake Villa as ‘all lots are not occupied.?
Lake Villa has 851 home sites, but, at last count, only 520 were occupied. That number was based on a visual inspection of the park conducted by township Clerk Curtis Wright during the summer.
However, Sims wrote, ‘There is concern (about) the amount of previous well/pump failures and reduced pumping capacity of several wells. Meeting fire flow could (also) be a concern when wells are out of service.?
In addition to providing water to Lake Villa, sending the main across school property would have the benefit of allowing the township to, at some point in the future, loop its water system in that area.
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 middle school property to a future main along E. Drahner Rd., which would, in turn, be connected to a main on M-24.
Having a looped water system is ‘highly desired and recommended,? according to Sharpe. He explained to this reporter the benefits of a looped system as opposed to one with dead-end water mains.
Water can flow from more than one direction in a looped system, which means users can still have access to it in the event of line breaks or repairs, Sharpe said.
Because the water is constantly circulating in a looped system, sediment and rust don’t build up as they tend to do in dead-end lines and the water itself doesn’t get stagnant, so the quality is better, according to Sharpe.