ROCK CREEK – Several matters related to infrastructure took up the bulk of the time during a Tuesday, May 12, work session of Rock Creek Village Council.
Chloe Forristal, village administrator, asked council to consider raising an abuse fee residents must pay for dumping certain objects and substances down their drains, which may disable float switches or jam the grinder pumps attached to each home in the village.
The fee is presently $126, which Forristal said no longer covers the cost of utility worker callouts, parts and materials.
Council member Wendy Sintic asked Forristal if her workers have a system in place to inspect, maintain and repair grinder pumps and associated equipment as needed.
Forristal said she’d conferred with the manufacturer, Franklin Electric, and been told the pumps do not require regular maintenance.
Sintic said she was concerned that residents may take maintenance and repair of the grinder pump systems into their own hands, rather than contact the village if a pump seizes.
She said that when a grinder system does fail, there is no root-cause analysis and that fees are applied inconsistently and arbitrarily.
Forristal responded that if residents don’t abuse the system, they won’t have any problems and that implementing a planned maintenance system would likely require the hiring of another full-time worker for the wastewater collection system.
Sintic said that the village needs a long-term plan to address aging wastewater infrastructure and equipment before council can ask residents to pay more in rates and fees.
“We can’t keep kicking the can,” she said.
The wastewater collection system, also called a sanitary sewer, in Rock Creek is different than most.
Typically, wastewater travels through a gravity main, where pipes are angled slightly (what’s known as “fall”) to allow for sewage to pass without leaving solids behind and are only pumped where necessary in what’s called a force main.
Bob Schultz, who was mayor of Rock Creek when the current system was built, said contractor Burgess & Niple deemed that the bedrock was high enough that excavating a gravity main would be prohibitively expensive and built the current system during the late 1980s as a temporary measure, meant to last 20 years.
It was originally supposed to be phased out over those 20 years in favor of a gravity-fed system, according to Schultz.
Every home in Rock Creek has a grinder pump system, which all feed into one force main that feeds into the wastewater plant. Forristal said there are over 300 grinder pump systems – one for each commercial and residential property – and three workers to service them.
Sintic asked if council could tour the wastewater plant to go over its function and discuss problems with the plant operator.
In other business, Mayor David Draves asked council to consider where to locate a new salt storage building for the street department, as the current one near the village garage is degraded and difficult for trucks to access, owing to having to make a 90-degree turn to back up to it.
“The longer we wait, the worse it’s going to get,” he said.
One possibility is a lot across the street from the village wastewater plant on Stiles Avenue, but the land would need a parcel split, a driveway cut in and utilities installed, according to council member Sam Simones.
Sintic asked why it couldn’t be built on the wastewater plant’s lot, but Forristal said there isn’t enough room and state regulations prohibit placing a salt storage building near surface waters such as Rock Creek, which runs adjacent to the plant.
Schultz said he owns a parcel between East Water Street and Station Street with a driveway and utilities he’d be willing to sell, citing a price of $39,000, but added he is flexible.
Council also discussed a proposal to rezone Sloat Avenue from residential to commercial to attract new business to the area.
Sintic said she is concerned that rezoning could make it difficult for a homeowner whose house is badly damaged in a fire to get their insurance carrier to pay out on the policy. It would also require an appeal to the village board of zoning appeals as a nonconforming use.
Several residents from the area voiced concerns that the narrow street, which features a 90-degree bend midway down its length, may prove difficult for delivery trucks to navigate safely and without damaging private property.
In response to a request for what recourse residents have against the proposal, Cecilia Cooper, village solicitor, said they can lobby against the rezoning proposal with the planning commission and village counsel, and that they can potentially lodge a lawsuit if that fails.
