Elmer City stays lone sewer plant course

Elmer City’s town council reaffirmed its plan to move on with developing its own wastewater treatment plant last Thursday night.

The council set its project schedule to have its engineering report completed by October of 2016.

Elmer City is in its 41st year of a 50-year agreement with Coulee Dam, which treats its wastewater, so the council has plenty of time to complete its own plant.

Elmer City’s sewage constitutes about 23 percent of Coulee Dam’s plant flow.

Meanwhile, Coulee Dam’s town council members gave Mayor Greg Wilder verbal support to move ahead with its plan for a new plant, designed with or without Elmer City’s participation.

The two towns are at odds on charges. Elmer City has refused to pay some of the charges from Coulee Dam, and that and other problems have led to Elmer City’s decision to build its own plant.

Thursday night the council voted to not approve the Coulee Dam wastewater budget that was forwarded to Elmer City.

Currently, the Indian Health Services engineering department is spearheading an alternative study to determine for Elmer City if it is best to move ahead with its own plan.

That study has been set back a year because IHS has been busy with other projects and hasn’t had the time for the alternative study.

One thing that has bothered Elmer City is that Coulee Dam has treated it like a customer instead of a partner in the project.

The Elmer City plan calls for contracting to be complete by February 2016; development of alternatives complete by May 2016; selection of a preferred alternative complete by July 2016; and the engineering project report complete by October 2016.