Published: March 20, 2008 04:56 pm         

School board tries to flush sewer problems

The Cumberland County Board of Education continues to work toward solutions to flush away the sewer problems in two county schools.

After rejecting bids given earlier this year, Uplands Retirement Village notified the BOE that they were given quotes closer to the original range for the expected construction cost in connecting Pleasant Hill Elementary to Uplands' sewer system.

In an e-mail to the school system, Nancy Himell, Uplands executive director, said the retirement village would be able to offer the school the possibility of hooking onto Uplands' sewer system at the original quote of $150,000. She added that the total cost, including construction, should be less than the $300,000 the school board budgeted for the project, especially in using the school's five acres for a drip irrigation system for flow of more than 40,000 gallons per day.

In light of this, Director of Schools Aarona VanWinkle said they were going ahead with the BOE's decision to connect with Uplands' sewer system.

In August 2007, Uplands agreed to allow Pleasant Hill Elementary to connect its sewer system to their treatment plant. The original estimated cost for the project was $218,000.

However, the project hit a snag as Himell informed the BOE at the December meeting of an issue relating to the daily treatment capacity and the possible need for land for discharge. If more land were to be required, a drip irrigation system would have to be installed at an estimated cost of $67,000.

This was a problem for the school board as they had only budgeted $300,000 for the sewer project.

At the Dec. 6 meeting, the BOE decided to delay discussion till further estimates were known. Bids then opened up for the project on Dec. 12. Himell's e-mail on March 10 indicated that new quotes received on the three-cell sand filter plant for Uplands' new water treatment plant were within the original range of cost, noting that the third sand filter cell would allow Pleasant Hill Elementary the ability to handle the necessary volume of waste water.

The BOE also moved forward in attempt to solve the sewer situation at North Cumberland Elementary.

VanWinkle went over a letter from Upland Design Group engineer Scott Nicholson that presented the board with two options. The first option is to install a drip irrigation system. The second option is pumping from the school's sanitary sewer to the city of Crossville's existing force main on Highway 127, which would similar to the set-up at Brown Elementary, VanWinkle said.

With the first option, Nicholson stated that the actual water usage numbers are less than half of the the usage numbers recommended by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). However, he said TDEC would allow them to use the actual numbers in the design, which will allow a reduction in the area needed for the drip system if the soil of the area is appropriate.

The first option is similar to the septic line in place at many of the schools, VanWinkle said.

With the second option, the pumping system was originally thought to cost $500,000, but now is estimated at $350,000 because the city's force main is three miles from the school as opposed to the original estimate of five miles.

The issue with the second option, as Nicholson describes, is that the force main would run on the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) right-of-way. Not to mention, the state may have plans to widen Highway 127 in that area.

Nicholson said TDOT indicated that if the BOE were to install the pump to the force main as the private owner of the force main at the time, they would then be responsible for moving it if the roadway is widened.

Nicholson goes on to explain two possible solutions. The BOE could wait until roadway alignment is finalized and the right-of-way has been purchased. This would require a temporary solution in the meantime.

The other option would be to let the city government as the body offering the utility submit the permit and be recognized as the public owner, which then would mean TDOT would pay for the relocation of the line.

The BOE could even fund all or part of the installation as long as the the city submitted the permit. To go about this, the school board would have to petition the city council for taking ownership of the additional force main.

Steve Smith, maintenance director, said he recommend connecting to the city's sewer system.

The DOS requested a motion be made for the BOE to petition city council about having ownership of the additional force main for North.

She told the board they could not wait for the new roadway to be built before hooking on the sewer system.

Robert Safdie, 2nd District representative, made the motion for the petition; Victor Randolph, 6th District representative, supported. The motion passed with all in favor.

VanWinkle said if the cost of the sewer project at Pleasant Hill doesn't use the entire $300,000 budgeted for it, then the left-over funds could go toward the situation at North.