| 2 min read | by Lonnie Huhman, [email protected] |
The Liberty Road water main loop improvement project, which could cost around $3-$4 million, is a proposal the Scio Township Board will need to seriously consider in the coming months.
Presented to the board at its April 28 meeting, which was conducted remotely and virtually, the proposal has been a long time in the planning and was first put forth as a needed improvement in the 2006 Water Master Plan.
It was again reinforced as a need in the 2014 Water Reliability Study, which looked at improvements needed for short-term and long-term future demands, historic water consumption data, projection of future water consumption, analysis of the adequacy of the infrastructure and recommended upgrades to the system.
Township supervisor Jack Knowles said this is an important project that would help the township’s infrastructure, but it isn’t inexpensive. He and township consultant Matt Parks said the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is wanting and looking for the township to make the improvement sooner rather than later.
Currently, the township’s Water System Components include four connections to City of Ann Arbor’s water supply system at Jackson/Wagner, Liberty Road and Walnut Ridge (2), two Booster Stations at Wagner and Liberty and the 1 Million Gallon Storage Tank, west end of Jackson.
The water tower tank is one of the main reasons to do the Liberty Road water main loop project.
Parks said if there are any issues or major failures with the current supply’s infrastructure, this loop would act as a redundant supply source for the Jackson Road Pressure District. He said it would benefit such developments as: Trailwoods, Arbor Chase, Country French, Polo Fields, all of Jackson Rd west of Zeeb, etc.
Another benefit, he said, would be supplying adequate pressures and flows to the Scioview Development, which a part of is under construction. The Scioview Development is proposing 168 homes and Parks said the southeast corner has the highest elevation and the connection to the Jackson District can only pressures homes in this area at only 37-38 psi, which is not adequate for two-story homes. He also said fire flows are not adequate for any phase beyond Phase 1 of Scioview with only the Jackson connection. Parks said the pressures/flows cannot be increased without continually filling the elevated tank.
According to the township, both Trailwoods and Scioview would be contributing some funding to help with the project.
Knowles said he thinks this is a project they need to complete. He said the next steps will be working on getting easements from property owners, finalizing some design plans and exploring how to fund it.
The township board is expected to revisit the proposal again at upcoming meetings.
