Bruce Mayor Rudy Pope said the $1 million sewer improvement project is nearing completion, but the city is still wrestling with problems with two of its wells.
The city has spent approximately $700,000 on the sewer improvement project thus far that was originally scheduled to be completed in July, but an extension was granted to September.
“They’re getting close,” Mayor Pope said. “They’ve already tested the lift station near Weyerhaeuser and are finishing up the others. They’re getting close to being complete, and then they have paving to do.”
Bruce Mayor Rudy Pope
The project has created some interruptions in water service around Bruce and other utility lines have been cut at times creating inconveniences, but Mayor Pope stressed this work will pay big dividends for the town long term.
“We needed all this work bad. It’s been tough at times but this will be a great thing once it’s all done,” he said.
The final step of the project is the paving, which will involve every area that has been worked on, especially Riddle Street, North Murphree and North Newberger.
“The line on North Murphree along First Baptist Church, that was a tough one. It was nearly 10 feet deep, but it’s fixed and all that’s ready to be paved,” Pope said.
“We were going to do more paving ourselves (this fall), but we’re waiting to see how much they get done. We were told not to pave anything that has a manhole in the middle of it because they were going to be tearing it up.”
As that project begins to wrap up, another priority right now for town officials is the water wells.
“We have only one well operating right now,” Pope said. “We’re trying to get some grant money to help us fix the problems.”
The well at the old National Guard Armory is “wore out and needs major repair.”
“It’s not out of the question that we may have to do another well, too,” Pope said.
The problematic well is tied to the well on North Newberger, so when one is down, it knocks out both, Pope explained.
“We’re hoping to get some financial help from the state to fix this problem, but we aren’t going to be able to wait much longer before we have to do something to get those back on line.”
Mayor Pope stressed these issues are examples of why the town board is proposing a second water rate increase in the last four years.
The board approved a more significant increase in 2011 where even the smallest bills increased $10 a month. The proposal on the table now, which they hope to have in place by October, would increase those same minimal water user bills by 20 cents a month. Those on the high end of the scale of water usage would see increases closer to $50.
“That’s a fair amount to everybody,” Alderman Steve Nelson said during last week’s board meeting. “We don’t want to get in the position we were before in a $100,000 hole (in the water department).”
No official action has been taken by the board on the latest proposed increase, but it’s likely to be presented to the public following the September board meeting.
In another ongoing project, Mayor Pope said he believes work could begin soon on the new turn lane for Weyerhaeuser on Hwy. 9.
Town, county and state economic development officials have been working on the proposal for more than a year.
“All permits are completed and I’m hoping that project will begin moving forward very soon,” Pope said.
He suggested there appears one last hurdle with MDA, but town officials don’t foresee it as a major obstacle.