By David Fleet

Editor

Goodrich-Easement requests for the final route on an estimated $600,000 village drain project have been sent to four village residents.

Jim Gerth, director of surface water management for the Genesee County Drain Office, said that once the easements are returned construction could begin as early as this fall.

“The field work is completed and although the easements are sometimes an unknown issue the project will move forward soon,” said Gerth. “It’s not too late to start the project this year and work can go into the winter months. The title work is still ongoing seeking owners who may have property impacted by the drain and the changes.”

The planned work is on the Wheelock & Watkins Drain—an agricultural drain built in 1897 and which encompasses a large section of the village, impacting about 100 residents. The old drain under the jurisdiction of Genesee County has been one possible cause of flooding of several residents’ homes over the past few years. About five years ago, the flooding intensified, prompting village officials to engage the county drain officials to investigate the issues. As a result, petitions were signed and in a special meeting on April 9, 2013 at the village offices, a board of determination voted 3-0 to move forward with an upgrade to the Wheelock & Watkins Drain. By law, the drain commission must move forward with the project in a timely manner. After a final project cost is determined, the drain commission will then decide how payment for the funding is to be divided.

Costs of the project are still only estimates.

“Primarily, a detailed survey collecting data necessary to draw up construction plans in the area of the drain will be completed and that will be used to prepare the bid documents so contractors will have plans to work from. At that point there will be a better idea of just how much the project will cost residents in the drain area.”

“The next step will be utility coordination and hopefully there’s no conflict with sewer lines,” he added. “The length of time for this type for a project similar to the village is not uncommon. No other projects have precedence over the others, currently the county has about 50 projects at different stages. The pace is different for each one.”

The cost will be shared between the village and property owners within the drain district, added Gerth.

“The county and state are only charged for the project if there are county roads or state highways within the district,” he said. “They are all villages roads and residents in the drain area. Part of the drain will go though the (Commons) park on village property or the street right of way. It’s a cost and time savings to go though the park where village streets are not torn up. There are a lot of pieces that will affect the budget of this project.”