Officials discuss Echo Lake sewer system
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — City officials discussed the sewer system at Echo Lake at Monday night’s council meeting, expressing concern over its condition, what it will cost to repair or replace and who will foot the bill.
“On April 28, Darrell White (fire chief) and I held a meeting with nine people who utilize the Echo Lake sewer system about the recent increase in rates and the future repair work,” said Deputy City Manager Martin Puckett, in a memo providing an update to councilors.
Puckett advised councilors on Monday that the system has “been exceeding the inflow of water due to leaks in pipes.” He indicated repairs are estimated at at least $80,000, with City Manager Jim Bennett noting “that’s a pre-engineered best guess by staff and could be $40,000 off.”
Council Chair Emily Smith said it would be “better to have them build their own system and maintain it” and that the city “is at a point of something catastrophic.”
“An $80,000 estimate a couple years ago could easily be $200,000, which would burden the rest of the city,” she said.
White said each tank handles two homes, for a total of 14 properties. He indicated building their own systems was not an option, due to proximity to the lake and DEP regulations.
“The problem we’re having is last month 12,000 gallons were going through per day. Some of that was groundwater, due to cracks and breaks allowing water to go through. The funds would be used to repair this, which might include possibly pulling one solid pipe through to solve the problem. Four or five years ago we pulled up all the tanks and that stopped problems there. Now we just have to figure out how to handle this pipe,” said White.
Bennett said solutions are limited and the DEP “won’t be excited to yank this out and put in individual systems.”
“The only way to get this fixed is if you, as councilors, decide to use funds from local property taxpayers to fix it,” said Bennett.
“We know right now, the current way people are charged at Echo, there’s no way enough money’s being generated to fix that. We’re steadily marching to a catastrophe. My suggestion before we get to one (catastrophe) is to create a smaller working group of residents and a couple councilors to discuss what’s to fix, where to get the money and what are the alternatives,” continued Bennett.
Councilor Mike Chasse suggested making adjustments to the user agreements of Echo Lake residents. Bennett said that wasn’t possible, due to “deeded agreements.”
“We can’t charge over the residential rate, but we’re already over by about $23. The only way to address this is to have Echo Lake property owners decide it’s in their best interest to pay the additional over the residential cost,” said Bennett.
Councilors agreed a meeting should be set up between residents and city officials, with Puckett saying he’d go ahead and organize one in the near future. Smith and Councilor Craig Green volunteered to represent the council.
