Officials in the Kalamazoo County village of Schoolcraft have been met with widespread community opposition to a proposed conversion from septic tanks to a municipal sewer system, a project which would cost the town $15 to $30 million, in addition to several thousands of dollars out-of-pocket from each homeowner, according to MLive.
In late January, the Village held an assembly to address the project once again, which has fallen somewhere on the Schoolcraft agenda regularly since 2008.
While some officials were on board with the pricey switch, others-- in addition to the majority of the community-- cringed from the cost and the 40-year commitment that a loan of that size would require.
Schoolcraft resident Max Hutchinson told MLive that he moved to Schoolcraft a few years ago but wasn't aware of the looming multimillion-dollar project. According to his own calculations and consultations, his household would be slapped with $17,000 in sewer expenses and hook-up fees.
“If it will be the cause of even one person losing their home, it’s not worth it,” Hutchinson told MLive. “It feels like some members of the board are unaware that people are unable to pay for it."
Residents would have to make the financial commitment and hook up to the municipal sewer system within five years of its installation.
Village Manager Cheri Lutz said on the Schoolcraft Facebook page that nothing is concrete yet, and "no additional steps will be taken by the Schoolcraft Village Council until we are better able to understand the implications of the timeline."
Schoolcraft has not made any final decisions about the project, but they could choose to proceed as early as May of this year.
The nearby Kalamazoo township of Oshtemo has committed to making the switch from septic to sanitary municipal waste disposal at the recommendation of the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department, with their groundbreaking scheduled for sometime this spring.
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