City awaits OK on Old Colony sewer line work

HUNTSVILLE All that stands in the way of building wastewater lines to serve residents who were annexed as long as 18 years ago is a campsite where American Indians once stopped to sharpen their arrowheads.

Federal law protects the site, where early Texas Indians left flint flakes on the dirt floor of what is now the Sam Houston National Forest, according to Randy Prewitt of the U.S. Forest Service.

This single use campsite is in the path of the last leg of project to install two sewer lines that would complete infrastructure on the east side and serve about 40 homes near Old Colony Road still without service, said the citys project manager Tom Weger.

The city annexed part of the Old Colony Road property in 1994 and another parcel in 2002. City residents who live in these areas use septic tanks.

This (project) will not only enhance our system but will provide service on the east side of the city, Mayor Mac Woodward said.

But the two lines, an 8-inch and an 18-inch major trunk line, are still in the engineering phase because of federal permit issues, a key hurdle, Jeff Cannon, vice president of Schaumburg and Polk, Inc., told Huntsville City Council at its last meeting.

The lines, part of the citys master plan, would tie into lines that are already within the national forest. Work has been ongoing for two years delayed by changing federal regulations as well wildfires.

Cannon said the forest service rejected an earlier set of plans after the agencys archeological site requirements changed. Schaumburg and Polk has since redrawn the plans to route the sewer line in question around the Indian campsite.

There will be additional value in completing the nearly $2 million project, Weger told City Council it will save money by eliminating five sewage lift stations and the power they consume.

The city also saved money in the pre-engineering phase, Cannon told council.

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City awaits OK on Old Colony sewer line work