Bessemer facing substantial, additional utility work

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Bessemer — Although Bessemer expects to close out a 3-year utility project by the end of this year, the City Council already is pledging to address additional work that could run for an additional three years.

Toward that end, the council voted on Monday evening to approve three resolutions that agree to project plans presented by the Escanaba office of C2AE and that authorize the firm to seek related grant funds.

If the work is funded and scheduled as soon as possible, it could represent continuing work in multiple locations, stretching through 2026.

The project plans were shared in three separate public hearings before the Monday meeting.

Darren Pionk, project manager for C2AE, presented the information in each hearing.

The first hearing was on the city’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Phase 2 project that was authorized in 2021 and amended in 2022.

Pionk explained that the pending project is a water main replacement on Osmose Road, replacement of lead service lines throughout the city, and upgrades to storage tanks.

In the process of exploring those locations, Pionk said it was learned that four houses on East Colby Street have lead lines.

“We have to replace those lines,” said Pionk, per mandates of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

He reported that EGLE agreed for the work to be added to the original plans at a cost of $102,000, but assured that it will not change the overall project cost of $2 million.

The second hearing was on a DWSRF project that was authorized last year.

Pionk said the purpose of that project has been to evaluate needs and provide suggestions on how to improve the city’s water system.

“The existing water system has numerous undersized mains and unreliable valves,” he said regarding related discoveries.

“The city has been operating and maintaining the system effectively, but there are areas of escalating deterioration,” said Pionk, adding that replacement is needed.

“Many older water mains in the system have encrusted interiors to some degree, which also affects available flow for the system,” he added.

Pionk recommended that the Bluff Reservoir be replaced and that the Tilden Tank be improved. He noted that about 10,000 feet of water main and approximately 25 lead service lines throughout the city also should be replaced.

According to Pionk, this project could total nearly $12 million, with about one-third of that cost designated solely for the reservoir tank.

The third hearing related to the city’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund project, authorized in 2022.

Pionk said the objective here was to evaluate needs and recommend improvements for the city’s wastewater system, which he said needs work to prevent sewer main back-ups and sewer failures and to replace “old, cracked, broken pipes.”

Total cost of the project to replace the East Colby Street water main could be $4.5 million, he said.

According to Pionk, some streets designated for work relate only to the drinking water project, discussed in the second hearing. Other designated streets relate to both the drinking water and clean water projects and could be addressed simultaneously.

He said design could be addressed during the coming fall and winter seasons, followed by construction from 2024 through 2026.

Pionk said that C2AE will submit grant applications for the projects within the next couple months.

Mayor Adam Zak asked whether 100% grant funding is possible. He said he had hoped that the combination of the water and sewer projects would not exceed $10 million, whereas he now estimates it will be $16 million.

Pionk implied that 100% grant funding will depend on the number of applications from other towns also designated, like Bessemer, as “overburdened communities.”

Councilman Terry Kryshak reminded that Ironwood, Escanaba and other communities have received 100% grant funding for similar projects despite them having higher tax bases.

“It defies logic to me that they can get 100% and we can’t,” said Kryshak. “The best we’ve done is the 75/25.”

Pionk said that he and his colleagues will try to work the grant application point system to the city’s best advantage. “It’s something that we’ll just have to wait and see where the city falls,” he said.

Zak also asked whether there “would be an option to chisel a few streets off, whether it be water or sewer,” in order to reduce costs.

“You have that option to a certain extent,” said Pionk.

Zak also asked whether lower cost pipe could be used. Pionk was open to it but said he’d rather use a higher priced “professional standard” product.

“These project plans are good for five years,” concluded Pionk, who noted that even if adequate grant funds are not offered or if the city opts against immediate work, the 5-year window would allow for future reapplications as needed.

He also pointed out that bonding, either in part or whole, could be another funding option, but would require user rate hikes.

A final option, said Pionk is to “do nothing” and address issues only as emergencies require, but he warned that delaying the work will compound the ultimate expense. Some of the discussed piping, he warned, is more than 70 years old.

None of the hearings drew any public comment, except from council members.