Madison Village seeks more time to transfer water, sanitary sewer systems to Lake County
Jan. 10—Madison Village wants to extend the expiration date of an agreement to transfer the community's water works and sanitary sewer system to Lake County.
Village Council approved that measure on Jan. 9 because of permitting issues and factors stemming from COVID-19 which delayed the start of construction of a sanitary sewer interconnection project.
Madison Village government has been taking many steps over the past five years to transfer operation, billing and administration of water and sewer service to the Lake County Utilities Department.
That transition was approved in February 2018 through a contract involving the village and Lake County.
Village Administrator Dwayne Bailey, during the Jan. 9 council meeting, explained that the 2018 agreement included a five-year sunset date, stating that the pact would expire on Feb. 7, 2023.
"If that (sunset date) were to lapse, with different folks involved, it could mean the lack of our ability to actually combine our systems, and would create a bit of a conundrum, so to speak," Bailey said.
The ordinance approved by council on Jan. 9 extends the sunset date by one year, but changes no other terms of the 2018 contract, Bailey said. Lake County commissioners also will have to sign the amended agreement to put it into effect.
In council's ordinance, the village noted that because of delays in securing permits and issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, construction of "the necessary sanitary sewer infrastructure" could not be completed by the original contract expiration date, which was just a month away.
In fact, Chivers Construction Co. just started building the sanitary sewer interconnection in early December. Chivers, based in Fairview, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $7.4 million contract by Village Council in August to construct the new system.
The sanitary sewer interconnection project will involve constructing a new trunk line to convey the village's wastewater to Lake County's sanitary sewer pump station. That station is located near Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on Hubbard Road in Madison Township.
Lake County then will complete a companion project involving the installation of a new trunk line to direct the village's sanitary sewage to the Lake County Utilities Department Wastewater Plant on Cashen Road in Madison Township.
As of Jan. 9, Chivers had installed about 100 feet of pipe for the project along Hubbard Road, Madison Village Assistant Engineer Andrew Lubonovic said.
"They're currently located around the church parking lot and they're moving south," he said. "Also, they have another crew on Middle Ridge Road, around Woodworth Farm, and they're working on dewatering and installing pipe there, as well."
Once the interconnection is completed and functioning, the village will stop accepting and treating wastewater, and decommission its wastewater treatment plant on Middle Ridge Road.
Bailey previously said he's "cautiously optimistic" that the sanitary sewer interconnection project will be finished sometime in 2023.
