It took a lot of outrage and the certain knowledge that voters would not forget or forgive; but finally, a downstate engineering firm will probe the planning, design and construction of Grand Traverse County's septage treatment plant to determine if those responsible for the plant committed professional negligence.
The county's Board of Public Works voted 7-1 last week to hire Grand Rapids-based engineering firm Prein & Newhof for up to $19,500 to investigate septage plant design firm Gourdie-Fraser Inc. and project manager Michael Houlihan.
More than four years after a wall collapsed shortly after the plant opened, voters may finally get answers to a host of questions, including whether the Gourdie-Fraser design was faulty and whether flow projection numbers -- which would determine how much revenue the plant would bring in -- were overblown.
The plant, built at a cost of $7.8 million, is expected to lose $2.4 million over the next five years. County officials are considering levying a $40 annual fee on all septic tank owners to help offset the losses.
The fact that it took this long for the Board of Public Works to agree to a probe says volumes about the complex web of politics and personalities that has been such a part of the septage plant saga.
Gourdie-Fraser was, in essence, the county's de facto engineering firm, landing a host of contracts with the county over the years.
The firm had never designed a septage treatment plant before and, as it turned out, didn't even know there was a different standard for concrete in such applications.
The probe likely won't change plans for an annual fee or higher costs for septic tank owners.
But it may provide some long-sought answers.
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