Plumbing Services - Volume Discounts

We will be keeping the community posted on all of the various plumbing vendors and volume discounts available to us. For example, a local plumber, who has done a good job for the Felts family, has said he would be very interested in installing our grinder pumps and would be willing to work with us for a volume discount. Great!

Perhaps you, like me, would be interested in participating in such a program with this or other vendors.

If so, please leave your email address is the comment section. I'll include your contact info in the distribution list.

Help is on the way for Grassland area, at a price

Help is on the way for Grassland area, at a price

Another Tennessean article for your perusal.

Official Resolution Published

View the resolution .pdf here.

Grassland sewer project ready to start in July

Grassland sewer project ready to start in July

By Kevin Walters • The Tennessean • July 1, 2009

GRASSLAND COMMUNITY -- Years of waiting for the launch of Williamson County's first sewer project comes to an end in July.

County commission members are expected at their July 13 meeting to approve the start a $2.1 million project that will install sewer lines for homeowners throughout four subdivisions in Grassland.

The roughly 450 homes have septic systems and county officials say about 20 percent of those systems are now failing -- though the percentage is likely higher.

Information about the project can be found at the county's Web site.

If the homeowners agree to install a new grinder pump and tap onto the system, they'll pay between $18,000 to $20,000 for the work total in tap fees to the county, the city and in buying a grinder pump.

The pumps will be homeowners responsibilities to maintain.

More than 100 homeowners attended an 1.5 hour session Tuesday at the Williamson County Administrative Complex where they peppered County Mayor Rogers Anderson with questions about the project.

Part of the project's delays stems from county officials' inexperience with this sort of project, Anderson said.

"We've never done this before," he said.

The sewage will be treated by the city of Franklin who will own the sewer system once the project is complete. Homeowners here will not be annexed. They live outside both Franklin's city limits and its urban growth boundaries.

Work is expected to take around 18 months and last possibly until December 2010.

Sewer meeting set for Tuesday, 6/30

Williamson County officials will meet with Meadowgreen subdivision homeowners at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the County Administrative Complex for an update on the county sewer project.

County officials are providing sewer lines to residents living in the Meadowgreen, Hillsboro Acres, Brownwood and Farmington subdivisions in the Grassland area, where septic systems have begun to fail.

Late last year, Franklin leaders agreed to provide sewer treatment service for the project, even though the area is outside the city limits and its urban growth boundary.

The county complex is at 1320 W. Main St.

December 6, 2010

http://www.williamsoncounty-tn.gov/index.aspx?NID=485

Meadowgreen/Grassland Sewer Construction Project

Meadowgreen/Grassland Area Sanitary Sewer Bid and Construction Anticipated Timeline Spring 2009

• March 9, 2009 - Williamson County Commission approved for additional funding

• April 19, 2009 - Advertise for Bids

• May 1, 2009 - Receive Pre-Qualification packages from prospective contractors

• May 19, 2009 - Open Bids Bids evaluated and selected bidder produces bonding and insurance for documents for contract documents, Contracts signed and Contractor ready to mobilize

• June 15, 2009 - Notice to Proceed, 540 days for construction

• December 6, 2010- Date of Completion

Deal solves sewer issue — for some

Deal solves sewer issue — for some

GRASSLAND COMMUNITY — On wet weekends like this one, Hillsboro Acres resident Michael Felts and his family have to go to a store to use a public restroom or to a coin-operated laundry to wash their clothes.

That's because the Felts' septic system is failing. And so are those of many of their neighbors.

Relief may come from the City of Franklin. Williamson County commissioners recently gave final approval of an agreement that allows Franklin to provide sewer service to the Felts family and about 450 other Grassland-area households.

The neighborhoods that would be affected are Hillsboro Acres and the Meadowgreen, Brownwood and Farmington subdivisions just north of the Franklin city limits.

In 2003, engineering consultant firm of Smith Seckman Reid Inc. was hired by the county to do a study on the conditions of septic systems in the Grassland area. The results showed that the aging systems were deteriorating. Failure rates ranged between 14 and 44 percent, with the worst being in Hillsboro Acres.

"The need has been there for many years," said County Commissioner Greg Davis.

Initially, the county tried to work out an agreement with private provider Lynnwood Utility Corp., which serves Cottonwood, River Landing and Legends Ridge subdivisions in the same area and operates a treatment plant along the Harpeth River in Cottonwood. Davis said that agreement never panned out, and, at the time, the city was not interested in providing services.

This, combined with getting the necessary easements for sewer lines, delayed the project a few years, Davis said.

The county recently approached the city again about providing services, and Franklin agreed. The interlocal agreement was approved by the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen in December.

Davis said it only makes sense that the city, which already has a water and sewer department and provides water to area residents, would provide sewer service as well.

"There are a lot of benefits of being with a municipal system," he said. "The county is not in the sewer business."

Commission approves Grassland sewer project

Commission approves Grassland sewer project

MONDAY, MARCH 9

The board has adopted an interlocal agreement with Franklin that allows the city to provide sewer services to about 450 Grassland homeowners.

Many of the homeowners in the area, which is outside city limits, have aging septic systems that fail whenever it rains.

The county will reimburse the city for the project, with the homeowners reimbursing the county. Two amendments were proposed that would have authorized the county to foot a portion of the bill. But both amendments failed, leaving the residents fully responsible for the cost. The project is expected to cost up to $3.1 million and take 16 to 18 months to complete, with service being fully operational in 2011.

Rick Florian Offers Thanks to the Community

While I know this list is not exhaustive, I want to thank the Creeks, the Felts, the Triggs, the Colellas, the Jones', Feenstras, and all the other families who worked so hard in pushing this sewer effort through. While costs will potentially move higher than anticipated, it would have only gotten worse with any future delay.

Sewers are inevitable. Period. There is a 100% chance that each of our personal experiences will get worse without it. The only uncertainty is time. A repair I had a year ago may last me for another 20 years. Who knows? One thing is for certain. Each of our days of septic issues are numbered and they are coming. For many they are already here.

Many thoughtful and substantive efforts are being made to mitigate costs for ALL of us. These efforts are being made by very few for ALL of us. This includes some of our county commissioners.

I hope that many of us (including myself) will step up to the plate and help whenever possible to assist in bringing this effort to fruition.

Remember that we are a community. We can choose to work together and celebrate that relationship or we can pull inside ourselves and only consider our individual needs. In this case, I believe it would be to the detriment of our neighbors and ourselves not to look out for all our interests in both the short and long term. We are taking care of our family when consider our neighbors. I want my kids to live with that perspective.

Thanks again to all who put such substantial work into making all our future lives better. Sorry this is so wordy. I wouldn't surprise you to hear I'm known to be a talker...

- Rick Florian

21-0

A long journey has ended with the successful 21-0 vote to approve the Grassland Sewer Project.

Congratulations to all who dedicate so much time and effort over the last few years. You are appreciated!

Now the real work starts.

Resolutions, More questions, Rising Costs

Dear Neighbors -

I have found online links to the resolutions being voted on next Monday at the County Commissioners meeting (in addition to the meetings of related groups this week). You can obtain Resolution No. 3-09-4 and Resolution No. 3-09-5 at this link: http://www.williamsoncounty-tn.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=1306


Here are some highlights:
Note that the second resolution (3-09-5) explains that the additional 1.4 million dollars is being requested because during the time that lapsed /was needed to obtain right-of-way and negotiate a collection system ressolution costs have gone up, including upgrades to the City's wastewater treatment ($750,00) and related engineering fees ($61,00). It says the County will fund these costs and they will get their dollars back by collecting fees from us homeowners.

Needless to say, this is very upsetting. $1.4 million divided by 400 homeowners is about $3500 per homeowner--so now we are looking at around $7500 per homeowner (originally they told us $4000) just to have the pipelines go through our property---tying on is an entirely different set of expenses.

Also, both resolutions state that the reimbursement for the costs of the system install will be obtained from individual property owners, which does not seem to allow for the possibility of getting money from grants or other sources. In addition, resolution 3-09-04 does not require any homeowner to tie on. It just says that after 7 years, even if you haven't tied on you will start getting billed for sewer treatment anyway based on your water usage. There is no provision about the city or county making any attempt to assist homeowners with a group rate if a number of us want to tie on at the same time---it is all individual requests to the city. Homeowners will own and be responsible for our own grinder systems.

I have a number of questions, but my biggest question is, since no one is required to tie on, if my neighbor's septic system fails, and their property condemned, can that property become "uncondemned" by tying on to the sewer system---and will the owner be forced by city or county to tie on at that point, or will they just be forced out of the home and be able to leave it there in a condemned state? (not expecting any of you to answer that).

Andi Creek

Follow Up from Greg Davis

Editor: I was remiss in publishing the timely responses from our representatives. Here is Greg Davis' follow-up:

Thank you all for your patience. Mary Brockman addressed most of the outstanding questions already. I just want to add a few things. Everyone is distressed that this issue took so long to get moving. Mary called it "uncharted waters" and it certainly is.

As to the easements that many area residents have signed - none have expired yet. Some of them will expire before construction is completed. Those residents will simply be asked to sign a new one. Most of the early signers were big supporters of the sewer idea and most also were temporary easements for construction only. Compared to the other issues, this one could be minor.

Like Commissioner Brockman, I feel this will pass on 3-9-09. First it will go to the Property committee on 2-25-09 at 5:00 PM at the Administrative Center. Then the Budget Committee will hear it on 3-2-09 at 3:30 PM. The Water and Wastewater Committe will also hear it. All of these are public meetings. Still the important one is the 3-9-09 meeting (7:00 PM) where all Commissioners will be present. Jack has suggestted that one person speak for all others interested in the project. Numbers are still important though. The speaker could ask that all present that support the resolution stand for example. As Jack pointed out this is not a public hearng and there is a 15 minute time limit or up to 5 speakers. At some point after the passage of this resolution and Inter-Local Agreement, there is likely a strong need for another public meeting for the neighborhood. This would only be explain the what now? and how much? questions rather than to gather support.

The Grassland sewer project is closer to fruition than at any time over the many years it has been proposed. I know it seems like forever, but it would not have happened without many people supporting it. The County Mayor's office has championed this along with Kristi Earwood the attorney working with the County on this for years. Assuming this passes in March, it still must be bid out and then built. It will still take time.

You and your neighbors kept this idea alive and sold it to others in the area. This was a true grassroots effort that is close to success. Thanks to all.

Greg Davis

Response from Mary Brockman

Mary Brockman was first to respond to Andi Creek. I was slow in posting, sorry for any inconvenience caused by my delay:

Dear Mrs. Creek,

I will be meeting with Mayor Anderson in the morning and signing the resolutions for this project. Here goes:

1) I agree that periodic updates would be helpful to keep everyone in the loop. However, putting together the necessary legal terminology for the inter-local agreement with Franklin along with the accompanying resolutions to approve and fund it has been in the hands of our attorney and simply did not call for community input.

2) The County resolution basically approves an inter-local agreement with the City of Franklin rather than Lynnwood. The Commission will vote on this March 9 at our 7PM meeting. There is a public comment period at the beginning of themeeting if you or others wish to come speak in support of this project. All four of your representatives will sign the resolution and I see no reason that it will not pass with full commission support. Once the agreement is approved, signed, and funding put in place, I believe that the actual work can begin.

3) As far as I know, the signed easements are all still good. But don't quote me.

4) The inter-local agreement between the City and County did not require input from the community. It is a legal document setting forth the terms of each entities responsibilities.

5&6) In the beginning, we were told by legal staff that the County could not pay for individual homeowners to hook up to a sewer and not provide the same or similar service to other neighborhoods thus improving the property value of some and not others. However, Ido believe it is not out of the question to approach it differently and investigate grant money based on the public health issue of the problem. The stimulus bill is an unknown at this point, but the work certainly falls under the heading of "improving infrastructure". So, I will discuss these ideas with Rogers and see if either has legs.

8) There is no question that the neighborhood supporters have done an amazing job of pushing us forward and helping get us to this juncture. Your group came through with help securing signatures at a critical point. We are going to ensure that this project is completed.

9) If the County was in the sewer business like the cities and utilities, this project would have been on line years ago. But, these are complex and unchartered waters for the County. I do believe we have stepped up to be part of the solution. And Mayor Anderson's success with bringing the City of Franklin into the arrangement has been an important change that brings about a better outcome for the future.

I agree wholeheartedly that it has taken too long to get this problem solved. However, it has not been from lack of persistence and commitment on behalf of your local officials.

Positively,

Mary Brockman

An Open Letter to Williamson County Leaders from Andi Creek

Please take a minute to read the following open letter from Andi Creek. Like Andi, please consider writing to our representatives and ask them to take action on the Grassland Sewer Project!

Contact Info District 8

Jack Walton: 373-3346 - jack@jackwalton.com
Greg Davis: 791-7683 - gregd@williamson-tn.org

Contact Info District 9

Mary Brockman: 794-5177 - marymcbrockman@gmail.com
Ernie Williams: 794-9749

____________________

Hello –

I have written to you all before about the septic system issue in Grassland, and you have responded that you are supportive of this project. I realize it may be bothersome to have us contact you multiple times, but we do not hear anything otherwise. Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to this letter of concern.

I have numbered my questions throughout this letter to assist you with your response---you can just number your answers according to the number of the related question. When you reply, please “reply to all” so the core group of residents I have copied here (who helped with the easement signings and follow-ups) can also read your responses.

1) There are several residents who have emailed you all over the past two years of waiting (all copied on this email)--would one of you please volunteer to send us periodic updates on the status project status and when there are meetings that we could attend to show support?

We need your help to push this project forward faster. As you know, we did what the County asked and collected signatures on nearly 70% of the easements before July 1, 2007,---more than required—to move forward with this project.

Nearly two years later, the County finally acquired the rest of the easements and gave up on Lynwood to pursue Franklin’s help, which, thank goodness, they agreed to give last October.

Still, FIVE months after that vote of support by the city of Franklin, I am told by fellow resident Mike Felts that a resolution is to be submitted to the Williamson County Commission on March 9, and that contract talks with the city are ongoing.

2) How long is this going to go on?

3) Do you know that some of the signed easements may be expiring before the end of this year?

4) Will that mean we have to have them signed again? It was very hard to convince some residents in the first place; after waiting more than two years and nothing happening, we may not get some to sign again without more court costs.

5) Are you going to include any residents or ask for our input on the agreement with the city? I do not understand why you do not solicit input from those of us living in the area when there is such a huge impact on us.

6) What kind of searches are you doing for grant money or maybe stimulus money to help us offset costs?

7) Can you point us to resources so that we can apply for assistance? Most of this area is not in a wealthy part of Franklin---$4000 just to have the option to tie on, plus another $10,000 – 15,000 to tie on is not even possible for some residents and an extreme hardship for most---and I am sure with all the delays costs may be even higher now.

Many of us have serious septic issues. I am one of them---there is sewage coming up in the middle of our yard, (the words we got from the city when they came to look was “well, we have never seen anything like this before”—not very comforting). After we residents got the % of easements required signed by July 1, 2007, we were told that work would probably start in Fall of 2007. The sewer project was supposed to take 18 months. That means the project would have now been nearing completion, and residents could be putting thousands of dollars toward tying on and installation of a permanent sewer solution instead of throwing it away on a temporary fix of failing systems.

8) What can we do to help move this forward faster?

9) What steps are you taking as our representatives to push this forward? This is an urgent issue, not just for me, but many residents in this area, and, frankly, for anyone using water from the Harpeth, which continues to be polluted by raw sewage from failing septic systems.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,

Andi Creek

302 Stable Road