Published: April 25, 2008 11:12 am      

Sewer project moves forward

Residents expected to tap on to system

BISMARCK — A handful of Bismarck residents and village officials attended a public hearing on Thursday night to hear details on the proposed wastewater system for the village.

David Kieser of Kieser Consulting in Indianapolis told the audience the village will seek a grant from the Community Development Assistance Program.

The grant is for $150,000 and will be used for design engineering for the new wastewater system. Wastewater systems were formerly called sanitary sewer systems.

“We have already covered at a previous hearing the need for a wastewater system,” Kieser said.

“Tonight we are here to build public support for the project and to fulfill a requirement of the CDAP grant program of holding at least one public hearing.”

The grant, if received, will pay for the design, surveying, mapping out the sewer lines, detailed drawings and specifications for the project. The grant also will pay for preparing the bid documents.

“After the design engineering phase is completed, the next step will be to apply for a United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant and loan to cover the cost of installing the sys-tem,” explained Kieser.

“Once we receive a Rural Development grant and loan, we can seek bids, select the lowest bidder who meets all the requirements and begin construction.”

One positive part of the proposed system is that the Danville Sanitary District has agreed to allow the village to connect to its system and will handle the treatment of the sewage.

According Kieser this will be a huge cost savings for Bismarck since it will not have to build and maintain a treatment plant.

Current plans are for the sewer line to run along Shake Rag Road and connect with Danville sewer lines.

An audience member questioned whether it would be more feasible to run the connecting line south along Bowman Road since it is a more level road and connect to the line extended to the new armory at the airport.

Kieser said that is one of the items that will be decided in the design phase.

Another audience member asked what the monthly charge would be for sewer service. According to Kieser, generally the USDA Rural Development grant program likes to grant enough funds to keep the average sewer bill at around $45 a month.

Kieser said that normally a town with metered water service bases sewer bills on the amount of wa-ter used. He said the village could also charge a flat rate fee per month.

An audience member questioned whether there would be an adjustment for summer months when his wife waters flowers. Kieser said there is generally no exception allowed for billing.

In response to another audience question, Kieser said the average cost to connect to the sewer sys-tem is $1,600 to $3,000 per household.

However, he said there are grants available, that the village will apply for, to help bring those costs down.

He also said everyone in the village will be required to connect to the system and plug any existing connection to a septic system.

The grant application is due May 15 and the grants will be awarded in late 2008.

“This is why we incorporated 10 years ago,” said Eleanor White, Bismarck village president.

“We originally wanted to do something about the drainage problems in the village, but we were told we had to put in a sewer system first.”

Kieser told the audience that once the planning for the wastewater system is completed, he would look into putting in a storm water sewer system. That system would merely drain into nearby streams and rivers.