Pump Station May Get Permanent Gas-Powered Generator

The council has asked for an estimate to be worked up and a preliminary plan to be written by Hubbell, Roth and Clark engineering firm following their presentation this week about their .

The estimate is to include the permanent installation of a gas-powered generator that would back-up all eight of the station's pumps in addition to several other requirements. Councilman Joseph Leonard, who made the initial motion, listed six additional requirements including bringing all of the pumps up to code, architectural updates and that all planning must be done with the idea of a possible future sewer separation project.

Leonard's motion gained unanimous support from the rest of the council.

The gas-powered back-up generator is one of several recommendations outlined by Tom Biehl, an engineer with Hubbell, Roth and Clark. All of the recommendations would cost an estimated $5.24 million. 

Many of the recommendations relate to the age of the equipment and building. Biehl asked the council give his firm the approval to begin planning for the station upgrades.

Biehl also included a map showing a concept plan for a partial sewer separation of the inland district, which is currently a combined system for storm water removal and raw sewage disposal.

Council briefly talked about the concept but agreed it would be a project that is much farther down the road, noting they need to treat it like a two-phase project with the separation being the second part.

The investigation was spurred by wide-spread , which for some residents was their second time experiencing and for others the third time.

Council members and city administrators held in which residents were encouraged to attend and ask questions. Meanwhile, two in May and then again in September.

Several additional folding chairs set up in council chambers Monday signified Farms officials anticipation of a packed meeting. There were only a handful of residents in attendance, including Andrew Dervan, who to council last month on the patterns of flooding.

Council members asked Biehl some questions following his presentation and there were a handful of questions from the residents who attended the meeting. Dervan said he is happy to see the results of the investigation and is glad the engineers looked at elevation levels and patterns of flooding.

He does still have some concern, however, related to the power supply serving the Kerby Road Pump Station. He said officials made such a big deal about immediately following both floods, but now officials are not focused on that particular factor.

Dervan believes there should be some effort to ensure DTE will improve its service to the pump station, he said.

In addition to the council asking for a preliminary plan for many updates and a permanent gas-powered generator, the council voted to send a request to Wayne County for an inspection to the Fox Creek Enclosure.

The enclosure, Biehl explained, is important to the flow of the water from the Farms. Making sure it is clear of debris or blockage was among the recommendations Biehl included.

Meanwhile, the claims filed by residents related to the September flooding have not been answered by the city's insurance carrier but remain pending because of the second class-action lawsuit filed, Reeside said Monday.

The Power Point used by Hubbell, Roth and Clark engineer Tom Biehl is attached to this story and can be viewed by selecting the PDF tab of the photo display. The Power Point is also available on the Farms website.