Google Maps Satellite image of Keweenaw County’s wastewater treatment lagoons

EAGLE RIVER —  The  Keweenaw County Board received an update from Zach Garner on the county-owned wastewater treatment lagoons at Mt. Horace Greeley at the regular monthly meeting Oct. 19.

Zach Garner, of Open Skies, the special interest group that purchased the former Calumet Radar Base, where the lagoons are located detailed the updates made to the wastewater facility undertaken by Open Skies.

Open Skies purchased the radar base in August 2021 with the hopes of rehabilitating structures and opening the historic site to the public.

Garner told the board that the lagoons are now fully operational and the valves are working again, and that fencing and signs will be repaired and installed soon.

“There are no liner leaks,” said Garner. “There are no major repairs that need to be completed right now.”

The valves that were rusted shut were repaired a month or two ago, he said, all of which Open Skies did to prepare for the the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) grant that the county has applied for.

“Keep in mind, though, that this grant rotation that you are applying for right now,” Garner told the board, “is one of the last ones that will include a lot of the infrastructure money in it, so there is a pretty good chance that you might get a lot more cash than you normally would if you were applying for this any other year.”

Garner had addressed the board back in April, reporting that the lagoons were in poor condition.

At its regular July meeting, the board unanimously approved a motion by Randy Eckloff, District 5 chairman, to submit an Intent to Apply form to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund/Strategic Water Quality Initiatives Fund for the wastewater treatment facility located at Mount Horace Greeley.

This is a low interest loan financing program that assists qualified local municipalities with the construction of needed water pollution control facilities.

According to the Mich. Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) website, a community interested in applying for a loan must fill the Intent to Apply form out and submit it to EGLE-WIFS (Water infrastructure Financing Section).

In April, Don Piche, Chairman for District 1, had said that closing the facility would require townships and residents, including Allouez Township, which has a contract with the county, to procure alternative wastewater disposal methods. There is also a possibility that Houghton or Calumet Township facilities would not be able to accommodate the wastewater resulting from a closure of the Mt. Horace Greeley plant.

When the Grant Township treatment plant failed a few years back, Piche noted, Calumet could only accept a percentage of the content of that plant.

During the April meeting, Tom Wierciak, treatment plant operator for both the Grant Township and Mt. Horace Greeley treatment plants, told the board that from his personal standpoint, the county-owned Mt. Horace Greeley plant has not been managed well.

“Right now, it’s just sitting there,” he said. “Yep, the septic haulers are hauling there; you guys are making in the thirty grand a year (range), but that’s it. There’s been nothing going on. There’s been no maintenance on the thing or anything like that, so we’re in a bad spot.”

Garner said while his company was not in a position to undertake the financial costs of upgrading the plant, they were willing to take over the operation of the lagoons pending the certification process that must be completed, to which Tom Wierciak agreed to assist with the process.

“It would take up to a year,” Garner said, “but we kind of already started last year when we first bought the property, so it might not be that long. We would be willing to do that in exchange for utilization of them at the same rates as everybody else.”