St. Ignace Township board members plan to eliminate sewer odors in Evergreen Shores within 100 days. The solution comes with a $200,000 price tag, adds approximately $2.42 to sewer bills per household, and was approved during a special township meeting Tuesday night, August 1.

Two weeks after directing the sewer project engineers to come up a solution to the ongoing sewer smells that homeowners in Evergreen Shores have endured for the last 11 months, the board was given four recommendations to consider from Andrew Keranen, a civil engineer with U.P. Engineers and Architects, Inc. of Norway, who has been the project engineer since early 2006.

The solution the board approved calls for a 3,000-foot bypass that will directly tie the sewer's force main to the St. Ignace water treatment lagoons at Lift Station #2 on North Mackinac Trail. The plan could have been a part of the original sewer construction project, though previous project engineers did not expect sewer odors to be a problem. The engineers also recommended against the added construction costs and suggested that Rural Development would not provide the additional funding to build the odor-prevention measure.

Now, to eliminate the unanticipated odor problem, the township will seek a $200,000, 40-year loan at 2.7 percent interest. The monthly increase of approximately $2.42 per unit will be added to bills when the bypass is operational, said Township Supervisor Dale Nelson.

Township residents now pay $18.50 for the service.

"This will eliminate the possibility of odors in Evergreen Shores," said Mr. Keranen.

"We're not out to spend more money, but we're out to get something done," said Mr. Nelson. "People have put up with enough of this."

The new bypass will not affect road surfaces, said Mr. Keranen. Construction work will take place along the shoulders, and the bypass will run along Mackinac Trail from north of Superior to the I-75 business loop to north Mackinac Trail and end at Lift Station #2.

Construction permits will be needed from the Michigan Department of Transportation, the county, and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Also the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will have to review the construction application and will be concerned with preservation of any Indian artifacts that may be unearthed.

"SHPO has a strong interest in this area, so I think they're going to require an archeologist," said Mr. Keranen.

The 100-day timeline for the project presented by U.P. Engineers has a completion date of Thursday, November 9, with the construction completed by mid-October.

"This is an aggressive schedule, but we think it is doable," said Mr. Keranen.

The board had hoped to wait for the tribal housing complex to get hooked up to city water before spending more money on the odor problem. Well water that is being added to the sewer system from the homes is high in sulfates, which engineers believe has had an impact on the sewer's chemistry and smell.

If tribal housing hooks up before work begins on the $200,000 project, engineers will monitor the chemistry of the system to see if the odors still might be eliminated without the township incurring the additional cost.

U.P. Engineers also gave the board three other options to consider, although the option the board took came with the engineer's recommendation.

"This is the best option to ensure that there will be no more odor issues in Evergreen Shores related to the tribal area and the force main," wrote Mr. Keranen in his letter to the board that explained all the options and gave a job timeline.

One of the other options also included bypassing the gravity sewer system to Lift Station #2, although with a small diameter force main. The project cost was estimated to be $86,000. A second option was the same, but with a large diameter force main and carried a cost of $140,000. The third option was to begin a chemical injection program and would include the construction of a building for $60,000.

Mr. Keranen also said that Rural Development may not have the funds available for the loan until its new fiscal year, which begins October 1. He explained that Rural Development had advised him the township may have to get a bank loan to cover the project until the department receives its funding from the state.

Les Therrian, director of the St. Ignace Department of Public Works, who also attended the meeting, said that letters from township attorney Prentiss "Giz" Brown III have not been mailed to those who have not paid to hook up to the new system, but are expected to be sent. The letter advises residents that they are in violation of a township ordinance. The deadline to pay to be hooked up was July 1.

Mr. Therrian said that of the 128 homes to tie into the system, 100 have paid to connect, and 66 of those are connected.

The township board next meets Thursday, August 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Township Hall on Gorman Road.