Mayors to discuss differences on sewer system issues

The mayors of Coulee Dam and Elmer City plan to meet next Tuesday to discuss the eventual hookup of the Elmer City sewer system to Coulee Dam’s new plant and the discrepancy in several billing invoices.

Elmer City has outlined how it can solve the need to pump sewage some 20-feet higher than it currently does, as a short term solution to the problem. The town indicated recently that it could put in two new pumps as a temporary step in meeting the date of the opening of the new Coulee Dam plant, now estimated at late summer.

The cost of the two pumps and installation is estimated at $30,000 to $35,000.

“We don’t think we should pay all of this,” Elmer City Mayor Gail Morin stated earlier this week.

“The problem is poor planning on the part of Coulee Dam,” Morin maintains.

Elmer City’s town council has already decided on putting in its own plant at a cost of over $3 million.

If Elmer City follows through with the two new pumps as a temporary fix, and puts in its own plant, it will still face a time when it will have to replace its lift stations. That bill could come with a price tag of $500,000, Morin stated.

“Our current lift stations are nearly 50 years old and are being held together by any means,” Morin said.

The invoice problem the two mayors will discuss has legal significance.

“Coulee Dam has threatened to sue us over adjustments we have made to some of the quarterly billings,” Morin said.

She and the council maintain that Elmer City is being overcharged, and they have gone through billings with a fine-toothed comb and made adjustments.

“Those are the two main issues that I have on my agenda,” Morin said. Elmer City had asked for the meeting.

The module-type plant that Elmer City is considering has the potential of serving 300 hookups, and units can be added to the system to accommodate more. Currently, Elmer City, which also services Lone Pine and a tribal trailer court, has 180 hookups.

Elmer City public works Director “Jimmer” Tillman said the plant the town is looking at would also accommodate any tribal housing projects in the area.