By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Ortonville — During the regular Monday night meeting, the Ortonville Village Council voted unanimously to approve a petition for the Northwest Oakland sewer project.
“The project itself was initiated by Genesee County,” said Brian Coburn, Oakland County Water Resources Commission. “They want to serve Grand Blanc Township. Genesee County is ready to roll with their phase 1 project, it’s a $35 million project. Our share of that is $10 million.”
That $10 million would come from the Oakland County American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“What we’ve been able to accomplish is a deal with Oakland County and Genesee County to make this available at no cost to the Oakland County communities,” said Coburn.
The first phase will secure capacity for the sewer project, which will eventually service portions of Groveland, Holly and Brandon Townships, as well as the village of Ortonville. There will also be capacity for additional sewer units for Atlas Township, Davison Township and the village of Goodrich. The first phase will go to the Genesee and Oakland County line. The second phase will extend along Dixie Highway to serve Groveland and Holly Townships, which is a $49 million project. The third phase will extend down Perryville Road over to M-15 to service Brandon Township and Ortonville, and that is a $59 million project.
“We’re looking actively for grant funds for that,” said Coburn. “There’s a lot of money that’s floating around out in the infrastructure world. We know that the communities cannot afford this on their own, it’s a big project.”
Currently, the share of the costs is broken down into 5.57 percent for Atlas Township, 6.97 percent for Davison Township, 43.02 percent for Grand Blanc Township, 2.09 percent for the village of Goodrich, 13.86 percent for Genesee County’s reserve capacity, and 28.50 percent for the Northwest Oakland Sanitary District.
Of that 28.50 percent, the breakdown of service percentage is 25.4 percent for Groveland Township, 29.2 percent for Holly Township, 22.6 percent for Brandon Township and 22.8 percent for Ortonville. That initial allocation for the reservation of capacity is at no cost to these communities, and is paid for by Oakland County.
“The petition is to signify that we’re ready for the next phase and to let Oakland County know that you’re ready to proceed so they can release the funds,” said Coburn. “We want to show our support to the county.”