By SHERI McWHIRTER
smcwhirter@record-eagle.com
February 20, 2009 12:00 am KALKASKA -- A majority of townships in Kalkaska County agreed to join a septage authority board and investigate whether it's feasible to build a septage receiving facility in Kalkaska. Eight of the county's 12 townships agreed to help fund a $35,000 study to determine if a septage facility would be financially viable. If study results indicate viability, a facility that could cost $2 million-plus could be built there, officials said. "If it doesn't have a positive note, we likely won't go forward," said Jerry Gaultier, a longtime waste hauler and supervisor in Boardman Township. The study -- expected to be completed in March -- will include engineering, legal work and financial projections, Gaultier said. Townships that agreed to the study include Bear Lake, Blue Lake, Boardman, Excelsior, Garfield, Kalkaska, Oliver and Springfield. Those opposed include Clearwater, Coldsprings, Orange and Rapid River townships. Rapid River officials met Tuesday, and some worried about financial liabilities should the plant be built and fall into the red. That's what happened with the Grand Traverse County Septage Treatment Facility, which consultants determined was overbuilt, based on overly optimistic septage flow estimates. "I don't believe a feasibility study after the mess in Traverse City," said Valerie Hansen, Rapid River Township clerk. The project depends on whether a facility can be built and operated efficiently enough to charge waste haulers less money per gallon to dump their septic tank payloads, compared to trucking septic waste to the Traverse City facility, officials said. "We want to see what it involves before we go any further," said Ina Sloat, Garfield Township clerk. Several local waste haulers support the concept, but at least one doesn't like the idea. Todd Savage owns Savage Septic Service in Alden, and he invested in a large storage tank to exempt him from an approaching state law that bars raw septage from being spread on the ground. All septic tank waste within 25 miles of a septage facility is required to be taken to such a facility, under the new law. Savage, though, could continue land application through 2025, unless Kalkaska townships approve an ordinance to force waste haulers to use the new facility. "That's exactly what's going to happen," he said, adding it would drive up his prices. The plant would be designed to pre-treat septage to remove solids and the liquid would go to the Village of Kalkaska's wastewater treatment plant. Solids could be used as commercial fertilizer, said Penny Hill, village manager. The plant could be built near the wastewater plant or in the village's industrial park, Hill said.
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