Published: Monday, June 11, 2012 at 7:10 a.m. Last Modified: Monday, June 11, 2012 at 7:10 a.m.

BARTOW - Polk County officials will appeal this week's denial of a zoning permit for a new boat ramp park on Lake Juliana, County Manager Jim Freeman said Friday.

The Polk County Planning Commission voted 5-1 Wednesday to deny Polk County Parks and Natural Resources' request for a zoning permit to develop the new park on a 1.8-acre site off State Road 559 north of Auburndale.

No date has been set for the appeal hearing before the county commissioners.

Planning commissioners sided with lakefront property owners who argued the ramp was unneeded, posed a safety hazard and was a waste of public money.

Parks advocates maintain it's important to expand the public park system and lake access in general, adding the funds for development of the park, which come from a share of boat registration fees, cannot be used for any other purpose.

County parks officials had been working on the project for more than three years as part of an effort to establish public boat ramps on more of the larger lakes in the county at the direction of the Lakes Access Advisory Committee. Freeman announced the decision following Friday morning's budget work session with commissioners.

"Wouldn't it have been better to talk to commissioners individually before making the decision?" Commission Chairman Sam Johnson asked.

Freeman said he made the decision after conferring with County Attorney Michael Craig.

He said it probably wouldn't have been proper to talk to commissioners beforehand since they're the body that will be hearing the appeal.

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County officials plan to appeal boat ramp denial

GROTON -- After a years' long effort, the Lost Lake Sewer Committee are prepared to begin the final lap to have a new wastewater system installed in the environmentally sensitive Lost Lake neighborhood.

At a meeting held Monday night, member Tom Orcutt reported meeting with officials in Ayer updating them on the commission's progress.

Earlier in the year, Groton joined Ayer in an intermunicipal agreement regarding a proposed hookup between a planned sewer line for the Lost Lake area and wastewater facilities in the neighboring town.

The commission has continued to move forward with plans to install a sewer system at Lost Lake, after submitting a final report on its feasibility to the Board of Selectmen last year.

The final report by the Sewer Committee estimated that to serve 390 potential households, it could cost as much as $10 million to install a sewer system in the Lost Lake area, exclusive of a wastewater treatment plant.

Commission Chairman Carol Quinn estimated that if a plan including hook up with Ayer were followed, it would cost each person who owned land along the sewer line between $18,000 and $24,000 each in betterment fees paid over 20 or 30 years depending on the type of loan the town could secure.

Those numbers however, would also be based upon whether the town could secure federal or state grant money for the project or if town residents agreed to cover part of the cost of installation with tax dollars.

To find out

Questions on the survey are to include whether residents were aware of the Lost Lake sewer project; whether they supported the idea; and if they would support paying a portion of the project via taxes and if so, what percentage.

After the results have been received, the committee plans to hold a number of public hearings and informational sessions in the fall before Town Meeting.

Continued here:
Groton's Lost Lake panel continues plans for new wastewater system

Published: Monday, June 11, 2012 at 7:11 a.m. Last Modified: Monday, June 11, 2012 at 7:11 a.m.

DAVENPORT - The bids are in, and costs of a new sewer collection system should be lower than expected.

City Manager Amy Arrington said Wednesday the low bid for the wastewater treatment plant is just under $2 million, which is what engineers projected.

However, the low bid for the sewer collection system to be installed in old Davenport east of U.S. 17/92 was $1.7 million less than projected.

"If that bid is a good one, we're in a good position," Arrington said. "We're waiting for our engineers to verify that everything is good with those low bids."

Based on Reiss Engineering's advice, the City Commission will discuss the issue at its workshop at 7 p.m. today at City Hall.

The commission decided last month to build its own wastewater treatment plant because it was less expensive than hooking into the Polk County's or Haines City's.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been pressuring towns whose residents have septic tanks to build sewer systems to prevent pollution of lakes and streams.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing $4.9 million in loans and a $2.3 million grant for to fund the project. The loan will be repaid by charges to residents.

The city has a bond issue ready to go to borrow the funds needed to install the sewer system and wastewater treatment plant but will wait until a town meeting tentatively set for July 12.

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Sewer bids come in lower than expected

Think about it. Most days, we take safe drinking water and efficient sanitation systems for granted. However, when somethings not functioning properly, we rely on plumbers to bail us out.

Whether in our homes where our lives can be quickly turned upside down by a blocked drain, stopped toilet or unexpected leak or public buildings that supply water for drinking, food preparation, washing, showering, swimming and other activities, plumbing is an integral part of the way we live our lives.

Plumbing was important to health yesterday. It is important to health today and will be even more important tomorrow, Dr Jamie Bartram, coordinator of water, sanitation and health for the World Health Organization, said. Good plumbing is one of the key building blocks in protecting and promoting health. A system that provides water through a house or through a dwelling or in a public building that is designed, built and managed properly is critical in ensuring the health of individuals that live and work there.

Thats precisely why you need a license to do plumbing work in most states.

Indianas Professional Licensing Agency requires four years (6,400 hours) in an approved apprenticeship program or four years work experience in the trade for a plumbers journeyman license. You can also have four years plumbing work under the direction of a licensed plumbing contractor for a plumbers contractor license.

We are licensed like doctors and dentists, Terry Cheek of TLC Plumbing in Griffith, said. We are one of the only professional trades that deal with public health.

Cheek, who has been a licensed contractor since 1997, got his start in the field taking shop classes at Hammond Technical Vocational High School. He completed the required 3-year plumbing program in 2 years.

After graduation, I went to work at Inland Steel as a plumber in the mill, Cheek said. However, it wasnt too long before I realized that I really preferred working with people and in the community. So, when I had the opportunity, I applied for an apprenticeship at the union hall and went to work for a local plumbing company. I ended up working there for the next ten years.

With over 30 years of practical plumbing experience, Terry Cheek made the decision to open his own company, and now that company is in its 15th year.

I just got to the point where I wanted to control the quality and quantity of work, he said. There are a lot of good, quality plumbers and contractors out there. There are also some who dont do what they say and hide it, its unreal. I would feel so embarrassed to be associated with that. Thats why I got on my own, so I could control that and always work with good, quality people.

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Plumbers Keep Us Safe and Healthy: Terry and Cindy Cheek have made it their life’s work

Published: Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 10:33 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 10:33 p.m.

DAVENPORT | The bids are in, and costs of a new sewer collection system in Davenport have come in less than expected.

City Manager Amy Arrington said last week the low bid for the wastewater treatment plant is just less than $2 million, which is what engineers projected. However, the low bid for the sewer collection system to be installed in old Davenport east of U.S. 17/92 was $1.7 million less than projected.

"If that bid is a good one, we're in a good position," Arrington said. "We're waiting for our engineers to verify that everything is good with those low bids."

City commissioners will discussing the issue at a workshop Monday.

The commission decided last month to build its own wastewater treatment plant because it was less expensive than hooking into Polk County's or Haines City's.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been pressuring towns whose residents have septic tanks to build sewer systems to prevent pollution of lakes and streams.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing $4.9 million in loans and a $2.3 million grant to fund the project.

The city has a bond issue ready to go to borrow the funds needed to install the sewer system and wastewater treatment plant but will wait until a town meeting tentatively set for July 12.

Excerpt from:
Davenport Sewer System Cost Less Than Expected

For the last 14 years, three different public water and sewer advisory committees have examined malfunctioning septic systems in the Pebble Ridge neighborhood in Doylestown Township and determined the area needs a public sewer system.

The results have always been the same. They dont get any better. They continue to get worse as the years go by, sewer committee member Joe Van Houten said when the sewer committee presented its recommendation to residents Thursday night.

And the more we continue to kick the can down the road, the more costs will increase.

But for the last 14 years, groups of 100 or more residents some of them the same, some of them new have said they dont want sewers.

A sewer adds no value to my home. I dont need it. I dont want it, said Dave Murray, summing up the feelings of many.

The sewer committee wants to install a pipe in the street a sewer main in the part of Pebble Ridge that includes Old New Road, Buck Road, Woodridge Drive and the roads that connect to them. There are about 257 homes in the neighborhood.

Engineers determined through visual surveys in 2008 that 15 septic systems were malfunctioning and 35 others could be malfunctioning. The Bucks County Department of Health has said the malfunctioning septic systems are a health and public safety issue.

Some of the homeowners with malfunctioning septic systems cannot replace them because a new septic system is required to be specific distances from the homes old septic system, neighbors septic systems, the homes well and neighbors wells. Scientists from Delaware Valley College and the Bucks County Department of Health have said the soils in the area are clay-like and septic systems wont work well.

Sewer committee leaders said as they have said before putting a pipe in the street (is) the only solution.

Committee leaders said each homeowner would have to pay about $20,480 just to install the sewer main.

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Committee says Doylestown Twp. needs sewers; residents say it doesn't

WENATCHEE A state mandate to reduce the amount of phosphorus discharged into the Wenatchee River could lead to Dryden and Peshastin joining the Cashmere sewer system.

Chelan County PUD commissioners learned Monday that uniting the three systems is one of several alternatives for solving the phosphorus problem by the mandated 2019 target.

The PUD owns the Dryden and Peshastin systems, which together have 200 customers.

Ron Slabaugh, the PUDs water and wastewater manager, says more analysis has to happen to see if the alternative is viable.

Questions remain about whether Cashmere could legally absorb sewer systems that exist outside its urban growth area.

Bob Schmidt, the citys director of operations, said he and Mayor Jeff Gomes are interested.

Its going to have to be couched in such a way so that at the very worst it would do no harm to our ratepayers, and potentially have some benefit, said Schmidt. If you have more ratepayers, typically youre a healthier utility. You have spread costs over a broader base.

Cashmere is about to launch a $20 million upgrade of its existing municipal sewage-treatment system that will leave plenty of room for growth.

If the alternative proves viable, the PUD would plan, design and install pipe that would carry Dryden and Peshastin sewage to Cashmere for treatment, Slabaugh said.

The pipeline and necessary upgrades to the treatment plant would cost more than $8.9 million. Another estimated $50,000 to $100,000 in annual PUD operations and maintenance costs would diminish over time, Slabaugh said.

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Phosphorus clean-up mandate could merge PUD, Cashmere sewer systems

MICHIGAN CITY What will the population and sanitary sewer statistics be in 40 years and how is that relevant to the Michigan City Sanitary District?

That was a question recently answered at a recent District board meeting after the board heard a presentation on the Lake Michigan Watershed Sanitary Sewer Master Plan by Cynthia L. Fort, director of environmental engineering with American Structurepoint, Inc.

The plan originated from the La Porte County Regional Sewer District. It is based on the countys topography, soils and demographics.

District Attorney James Meyer introduced the Sanitary Sewer Master Plan, saying any sewage collected in La Porte County will eventually have to come through the Michigan City District plant because communities and residents using septic tanks outside of Michigan City may want to tie into its sewer lines.

A trend based on the last 40 years shows that La Porte County could grow 1.1 percent every ten years, and the population will be over 114,000 people in 40 years, Fort said.

There are six areas the La Porte County Regional Sewer District could connect to Michigan City to provide wastewater treatment. They are at U.S. Highway. 421, Wozniak Road, Johnson Road, U.S. 35, U.S. 20 and County Road 1000 North.

Fort told the board that she suggested to La Porte County, that as it implements the plan, it would need to evaluate the costs to buy into the Michigan City treatment facility. She said examples of costs include connection fees.

There are ways to grow it organically, Fort said, noting that it would start with what works to how much it would cost to install, like eight-inch in diameter sewer lines and small lift stations, and ten years later, install larger sewers lines and lift stations.

City Engineer Charles Peller questioned what it would cost for the city to upgrade, a cost not included in the plan. The city would need to invest at least $50 million to connect with La Porte County Sewer District, Fort explained. It requires more lift stations, pumps, sewer systems and discharging treated sewage into Trail Creek, the Little Calumet and Galena water systems draining into Lake Michigan. It would be a final predicted amount for the county with connection fees estimated at $49,788,000 plus another $50 million, totaling at least $100 million overall.

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District discusses Sewer Master Plan

GRAY - The transformation of a key piece of downtown real estate from a shuttered gas station to an ethnic restaurant is a welcome sight, say business and government officials in Gray.

Manee Thai Restaurant, slated to open in early June after extensive remodeling, will jazz up Grays ethnic cuisine landscape and fill a long-vacant building right in the heart of downtown Gray, at the six-way intersection of what is known as the Crossroads of Maine.

The restaurant is owned by Kwone Sanasy, a woman born in Laos but who traveled to America in 1981 as part of the post-Vietnam exodus. She has since opened several Thai restaurants in Maine and New Hampshire, and according to family members, has chosen Gray due to its location.

Shes been doing this since 1991, so shes pretty good at what she does, said Sanasys son, Sourasay Senesombath, who lives in South Portland and came to America with his mother when he was 2.

Speaking on behalf of his mother, whom Senesombath says does not speak English well, he said she opened Thai 9 Restaurant, located next to Cabellas in Scarborough, in 2008. Sanasy also owns Siam Orchid Restaurant, which she opened in Bar Harbor in 2006. And she is soon to open Bodhi Thai Bistro in Portsmouth, N.H.

In Gray, Sanasy will receive help running the operation from her sister, Kaysone Nakummun. Nakummuns husband, Tee Nakummun, will act as head chef.

What led Sanasy to Gray and the location at 11 Main St., next to the monument in downtown, was the high traffic count and lack of similar Thai offerings.

Look at all the traffic. This is a great location. We dont see any other Thai restaurant in this area, said Senesombaths girlfriend, Nonglack Thanephonesy. I know there are a lot of Thai restaurants in Maine, but the nearest restaurant is Freeport and Westbrook. So we want to bring some diversity to this little town. I noticed theres Chinese (restaurants) in town and they are pretty busy. And there are other towns around here, so why not open a Thai restaurant here rather than them having to drive 20 minutes, 30 minutes to have Pad Thai.

Thanephonesy, who works at Sanasys Scarborough restaurant, said customer demand also drove the family to open a restaurant in Gray.

We do have customers that do live in Gray that come to Thai 9 and they are always like, Why dont you open one in Gray because theres no Thai restaurant there, Thanephonesy said.

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A new lease on life

SMITHFIELD - The lagoon sewage treatment system being installed at Friendship Park is part septic tank, part swimming pool and part lawn sprinkler.

Add it all together and the Friendship Park board says it will bring development to the park.

James Branagan, a member of the Friendship Park board, said the lagoon sewage treatment system is pretty basic, even though the price tag is about $435,000 - much lower than constructing a conventional sewage treatment plant.

The park board received $212,000 in a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission and $61,000 from the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association. The commissioners also donated $100,000 in county recreation funds. Branagan said the $100,000 from the county commissioners was used for the design.

The lagoon sewage treatment system sits on a hill above the lake. The park board still has to install about 5,500 feet of pipes and two lift stations to connect the peninsula at the lake and the campgrounds.

The system begins with the sewage being pumped into a buried tank that will separate the solids and liquids, much like a septic tank. The liquid gets pumped into a lagoon covered with thick plastic, where an aerator will allow naturally occurring biological growth to "work" on the liquid for a period of about two weeks.

The water then is pumped to a filtering system where organic solids will be filtered out. The water then is pumped back into the lagoon.

"The process gets a cleaner effluent," Branagan said.

The water then is put through a sand filter, where any remaining solids are filtered out. Branagan said the sand filter will help eliminate ammonia from the liquid, especially in colder weather.

The water then gets pumped into a tank which will add chlorine. Branagan said chlorine tablets, similar to what is added to a backyard swimming pool, are dropped into the tank. He said the chlorine will kill any type of virus and bacteria.

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Sewage system under way