Published: Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, 1:01a.m. Updated 18 hours ago

The Winfield Township supervisors on Thursday night passed a winter mailbox policy that might come into play next week, if weather forecasts are correct.

Forecasters say heavy snow might be coming early next week, which would send road crews out to plow the township's roads.

Should a mailbox be damaged during snow plowing, its placement will determine who would be responsible to fix it.

Mailboxes can't be installed in rights of way, and if they get damaged, the township won't pay. But mailboxes damaged by snow plows on private property, outside the right of way, will be the township's responsibility.

Also, mailboxes damaged by thrown snow are the responsibility of the property owner.

Officials said this had been an unwritten policy for years, but now the policy is official.

The policy will be placed on the township's new website in about three weeks. The web address is http://www.winfieldtownship.net.

The township's public works crew was busy in January, plowing at least once in 21 of the month's 31 days.

Officials added that there is an adequate road salt supply.

Excerpt from:
Heavy snow may test Winfields mailbox policy

You can lead someone to water, but you can make her drink it.

Tim Harmon knows that all too well.

"We've had a lot of calls from Charleston people wanting to replace their city water," said Harmon, of Harmon & Sons Water Well Drilling, who's serviced five people in the affected area this past month.

Harmon said the demand for drilling spiked after the chemical leak last month. At least 10,000 gallons of crude MCHM leaked from a storage tank at Freedom Industries near Charleston, contaminating the water supply of nearly 300,000 West Virginians.

Some residents say they're ready to switch to well water after living through the crisis.

"I'll wait as long as it takes," said Angie Morris, of Campbells Creek. "And if I can't get it immediately, then I'll just continue to do what I'm doing. But I refuse to use the water."

Morris, the mother of four children, uses bottled water to cook and drink. Several buckets in her living room store water for the dogs. She even uses the water from her neighbor's well.

"I've got children to think about," Morris said. "I can't take any chances."

At one point, the family did use well water. Morris said they sealed the well about ten years ago for safety reasons. Now, she wants Harmon & Son to drill another.

Only certified drillers, approved by the state, can install wells. The process also requires a residential permit from the county health department.

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Some residents switching to well water after chemical leak

Posted on February 22, 2014

Most of the homes on Germantown Road just outside of Toppenish are connected to only a sewer line from the city; they have their own sources of water. Now those living outside the city limits but who are connected only to the city sewer may face a sewer shut-off if they do not pay their sewer bill. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Phone: 509-577-7749

TOPPENISH Residents outside the city of Toppenish who receive city sewer services now face shutoff if they fail to pay their sewer bill.

About 30 customers live just outside the city limits and get domestic water from their own wells, but they also are connected to the citys sewer system. Most of these sewer-only customers live on Germantown Road, just southeast of the city and a stones throw from the sewer plant. But until now, there was no way of shutting them off if they failed to pay their bill.

So, earlier this month, the City Council approved an ordinance allowing the city to install shutoff valves at the properties if the account becomes delinquent. Customers have 30 days to settle delinquent bills. Currently, two customers are more than 30 days past due, City Manager Bill Murphy said.

We cant continue to provide free service to anyone, he said. We have to have a remedy and this is the only suitable remedy.

When city residents fall behind on their bills, their water is simply turned off, which also stops sewer service.

But when sewer services were extended to properties in the county years ago, shutoff valves were not installed, Murphy said.

If a sewer-only customer fails to pay under the new ordinance, a city worker will come out, dig down to the sewer line and install a shutoff valve and shut off the service. Not only will customers have to pay whats owed on their bill, they will also be charged the cost of the valve and the labor for the installation, Murphy said.

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Sewer-only residents in Toppenish face shutoffs

A total of $600,000 in government-backed low-interest loans and grant funding as been lined up to assist Brooks House of Bar-B-Q in replacing an aging septic system with a new mini sewer plant, officials said Friday.

Alexander Sandy Mathes, the consultant to the Otsego County Industrial Development Agency, said the money is expected to come from an Otsego County loan fund, the Otsego County Development Corporation, and a 10-county low-interest loan program operated by Broome County.

Officials said Brooks, in the process of building an expanded bottling facility that will allow it to step up the production of sauces sold in stores, has been getting pressure from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to upgrade its septic system.

The bottling facility is adjacent to the Brooks restaurant at 5560 State Route 7 in the town of Oneonta, where public water and sewer systems are lacking.

Mathes said the option of running a sewer line into that area of the town was explored but there would be insufficient financial backing to install one.

Mathes, recently hired by the local IDA, said he is confident the financial package for Brooks will be finalized soon.

We dont anticipate any issues, he said.

Eastman Associates, the general contracting firm headed by Richard Eastman, has been building the bottling plant and will also also install the sewer system.

Its all very positive, Mathes said in noting the boost for Brooks is expected to help the company take its line of sauces made in Oneonta into new markets.

Ryan Brooks, the third generation owner of Brooks Bar-B-Q, said the new bottling plant will be the springboard for an expansion of sauce production for the company.

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Brooks' to get $600,000 funding for 'mini sewer plant'

LISBON - Village Council voted this week to reimburse the owners of the Elkton Auto Corral for sewer bills they paid over the past 18 months even though their dealership is not hooked into the sanitary sewer system.

Jay and Susan Mullen attended the council meeting to make the board aware of the situation and to request some relief. Mrs. Mullen said they discovered the problem after purchasing the former Quinn Chevrolet dealership in August 2012, when the restrooms and service area drains began backing up.

They hired two companies at a cost of more than $2,000 to find the blockage, and both determined there was a concrete impediment outside the dealership in the middle of South Jefferson Street. Upon further investigation, the Mullens learned the concrete blockage was likely the storm sewer installed along Jefferson Street in 2012, which severed the sewer line.

"It's really not our problem but it is our problem," Mrs. Mullen said.

The village sewer department was aware of the situation but continued to bill the Mullens for sanitary sewer service they never used. Meanwhile, they had to pay a septic pumper to have the wastewater sucked out of the drains and toilets on a regular basis.

Then there is the embarrassment associated with trying to run a business that lacks functioning bathrooms. Mrs. Mullen said they direct their customers to use the restrooms at the Steel Trolley Diner across the street. "I've been going to Pondi's," she added.

"We've come to your city from Elkton to improve ourselves ... I guess we're just looking for a little help," she said.

Village Board of Public Affairs member Bill Hoover was in attendance and he said they had been aware of the problem but were unable to do anything in 2012 until a minor property contamination issue involving the dealership parking lot was resolved. The contamination, from old underground gas storage tanks, has since been remediated.

Hoover said they are willing to waive the tap fee associated with reconnecting to the sewer line, but the Mullens would have to pay to install and connect the line. Mrs. Mullen said this was a Catch 22 situation because they are prohibited from digging up a public street.

Village Solicitor Virginia Barborak then asked the Mullens if they would pay to reconnect to the sewer line if the village waived the tap fee and granted them permission to do the work. Mullen said that would likely cost them upward of $10,000.

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Lisbon to return dealership sewer fee, stop bills

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Town holding the line; residents vowing to go take the matter further

Andrea Gunn photo

Eugene Nippard, his partner, and her son, have been living in their home on Grenfell Heights for three years, and in that time have had to deal with six sewage backups.

Its an issue that residents of Grenfell Heights in Grand Falls-Windsor are not willing to flush away just yet.

After presenting a petition last month to the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor, the Grenfell Heights Sewer Line Committee, led by Eugene Nippard, were given the opportunity to air their concerns one-on-one with the Public Works and Planning committee. That meeting was held Tuesday.

At that time the committee also presented a letter to council detailing their concerns.

Last month Nippard, who owns one of the 53 properties in an area of Grenfell Heights that is not hooked into the towns sewer system, told The Advertiser about his sewage issues.

Nippard's home is on a septic tank and he said he has had a number of backups in recent years that he said have caused him significant financial and emotional stress.

He contends the town missed an opportunity to hook all of Grenfell Heights to the towns sewer system when it approved a request by the province to hook up Exploits Valley High at 392 Grenfell Heights.

Nippard believes the Town should have been able to hook the 30 unserviced Grenfell Heights properties to the schools force main, which will run right by all the properties, since the roads will be torn up at that time.

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Sewage committee meets with Public Works and Planning

The town of Craig is moving ahead with its plans to install a much needed community wastewater system.

Bids will be sought this summer, perhaps late June or in July, said Brad Koenig, the wastewater division manager with Robert Peccia & Associates, which is handling the projects design.

Construction on the system, currently estimated to cost $3,322,754, would begin soon after a contractor is selected and could be completed by the end of the year.

Some of the inside work may linger into early 2015, Koenig said.

The community is characterized by relatively small lots and homes and businesses that rely on septic systems for wastewater disposal and wells for drinking water.

We dont want the wastewater polluting the wells, said Anna Miller, a finance adviser with the Conservation and Resources Development Division at the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

When septic system drainfields fail, there is not always enough room to construct replacement drainfields and still maintain an adequate distance from wells.

According to project documents provided by Miller, The community has a documented record of wells testing high for nitrates due to the sewer drainfield discharges into the shallow aquifer, which indicates well contamination from drainfield discharges.

This system should help that, Miller said.

The community started working with Peccia & Associates in May 2012 to plan for a wastewater system. Construction will be funded by both grants and a loan.

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Craig wastewater project moving ahead

GROTON -- Looking to expand the role of the Lost Lake Sewer Advisory Committee, members regrouped, brainstorming ideas with the aim of approaching the Board of Selectmen for a change in their mandate.

Originally established to study septic conditions at Lost Lake, the committee's recommendation to build a $12.9 million sewer system that would have connected the neighborhood with a treatment plant in Ayer was rejected by a 2012 Town Meeting.

One of the reasons for the rejection was due to uncertainty that the source of the contamination of the lakes was coming from neighborhood septic systems. Instead, residents insisted that a more thorough study of the area around the lakes be undertaken to make sure.

As a result, a reconstituted Lost Lake Sewer Committee was appointed and consultants hired to proceed with testing, which proved inconclusive.

Findings however, did indicate the existence of unexpected "emergent contaminants" at different points, including those near the Water Department's Whitney Well site.

Emergent contaminants is a new category of potential pollutants of ground water that is little understood in how it travels in the groundwater or how much of a threat to people its presence might be.

Comprised mostly of prescription medicines, testing at two sites on the lakes indicated the presence of five kinds of drugs, including tranquilizers, nicotine, insect repellent, pain relievers and medicines needed to control seizures.

Among the more traditional pollutants in the lakes such as nitrates and phosphates, initial results of the testing indicated relatively low concentrations of each.

The results of the testing left the Advisory Committee with little support for the installation of an expensive sewer system, particularly if that system could potentially address only part of the contamination problem.

"The testing raised more questions than it answered," said committee Chairman Jack Petropoulos at the committee's Jan. 23 meeting.

Read more here:
Lost Lake board looks to protect watershed

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Septic, Sewer and Grease Trap Install & Service ...