Planning Commission Discusses Public Sewer System Issues

Putting in a public sewer system for Eagleville could be one of the most important services that the city can provide, according to a wastewater consultant from Knoxville.

"It is a public health service, an environmental protection service, and it is directly related to economic impact and economic growth," said Brett Ward, a consultant from the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS).

Ward met with Eagleville planning commissioners Nov. 5 to discuss issues surrounding the possibility of the city of Eagleville providing public sewer services.

Also at the meeting, planning commission Chairman Don McCord announced that he was resigning effective Nov. 5. McCord said he had talked with Mayor Nolan Barham several months ago about his decision.

McCord said he is leaving because he "would have more time to do other things." He had also served as the planning commission’s representative to Rutherford County’s metropolitan government study committee.

Eagleville has never had a public sewer system, and residents have to rely on septic tank systems. The school does have a small treatment plant.

"I don’t think there has ever been a question that we need a sewer system," Councilman and planning commission Secretary Harold Vincion said. "Ask any citizen who has lived here a long time, and they will tell you the city needs a sewer system. Our problem is coming up with funding to pay for it."

Vincion noted that the city has a population of only about 600 people, and that a sewer system will be a multi-million project.

"That is what handcuffs us," he said.

Concerning options, Ward indicated a sewer system that would discharge treated water into a stream appears to be out of the question for Eagleville because the streams in the area are impaired.

"I spoke with three different waste water pollution control personnel and asked them what options Eagleville has as far as municipal wastewater service goes, and all three of them very dramatically said the division of water pollution control will not allow surface discharges into the streams in this area," Ward said.

That would leave some type of alternate treatment system, such as one with a drip irrigation field.

One of the systems used in the area is a STEP system, which is available in Rutherford County through the Consolidated Utility District (CUD). The STEP system uses a recirculating sand filter with drip field lines, rather than having a discharge into a stream.

Planning Commissioner Bobby Turner, who plans to use a CUD system in his 87-home development, said CUD has been installing the STEP systems for a while now and is "having extreme good luck with their system."

Another possible option mentioned was Eagleville sending its wastewater to Murfreesboro for treatment at that city’s conventional treatment plant. The city of Murfreesboro is already extending its sewer system lines to Rockvale School and Eagleville would be just about 8 miles further.

"What you would really gain (if Eagleville used the Murfreesboro system) is that you wouldn’t have to worry about treatment and disposal of wastewater," Ward said. "You would just pump it to them and pay the bill."

Ward suggested that someone from Eagleville should talk to Murfreesboro officials about the feasibility of hooking up to that city’s system. Someone at the meeting suggested that the Murfreesboro system may already be reaching its capacity, and that there may be problems in running the lines to Eagleville because of geological issues. Also, running the lines might be cost prohibitive.

Barham asked what MTAS could do to help the city on developing a public sewer system.

Ward said he could meet with the elected officials to define what the problem is and to define what the city wants to do to solve the problem.

The next step after the elected officials and planning commission have exhausted their resources would be to look for some professional help from an engineer, he said.

Turner and others reminded Ward of the 1980s-1990s unsuccessful effort that Eagleville went through to develop a public sewer system. That effort ended up costing the city about $400,000 just for engineering fees alone with no sewer system being built.

Ward said one of the most important tasks would be to define what officials would want the engineering firm to do. Plus the city would need to maintain control of this process, he said.

Barham indicated that through the help of a citizens group (that has been endorsed by city council) and MTAS that the city can keep from making mistakes that were made in the past.

He and others also noted that the city still has the easement descriptions and the design of the sewer collection system from the engineering done on the first effort. This information could be useful and could possibly save some money toward developing another sewer system plan.

Councilman Ronnie Hill said he had heard that Larry McElroy of CUD had offered engineering services for free toward developing a system that would work for the city.

On funding, Ward said that resources such as grants to help pay for sewer systems are hard to get, and the amount of money that it takes to build a system is "almost unfathomable."

Keith Carey, who is chairing the citizens group endorsed by the council, said he sees the funding as a multifaceted approach.

The citizens group is charged with facilitating the research and implementation of options and funding to install a waste water treatment facility in Eagleville.

Carey says he envisions that it will not be just the city coming up with at least $2 million to put in a wastewater treatment center but other groups could participate also.

He indicated the school’s wastewater treatment facility has problems and he has heard the county is willing to contribute "a pretty good chunk of money" toward solving the treatment issues.

Also, Turner and other potential developers are responsible for paying for the STEP or other treatment centers for their developments.

Then there is money currently available from at least three different levels, Carey said, and the Harpeth River Watershed Association has money set aside to help people upgrade their septic systems.

"If we focus and approach this at all levels and then see how we can pool all these resources," he said. "Together you’ll have a pretty sizeable chunk of money to deal with the problem."

Ward suggested he will help with defining the project, then the city should look at getting engineering advice with the possibility of using CUD’s engineer.

He cautioned about just telling an engineering firm to "design us a system."

"Let’s take it in small steps and just start with preliminary design and before the cash register moves rapidly, let’s stop and look at that," Ward said.

Mayor Barham noted that the city’s "cash register is on empty right now."

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