The Benton Township Board of Trustees has approved two multi-million dollar sewer projects.
Trustees heard from Steve Oosting with civil engineering firm Paine and Newhoff at their regular meeting this week. He said the St. Joseph River Crossing Project will involve the construction of a new sanitary sewer line off Riverview Drive.
Currently, Benton Township and the city of Benton Harbor share a sewer line going under the river. Oosting told us that could cause problems.
“Historically, the two have always used the same line, and so this will establish a separate line that will separate the township’s system from the city’s crossing,” Oosting said. “It alleviates a capacity restriction. Right now, with both systems using a single line, if there’s too much flow, it can back up the system.”
Oosting said the other project is at Broadway and Willow Creek.
“The Broadway and Willow Creek Sewer Project is a repair of the existing system because of some problems in the existing lines. So, that will just remove and replace the deficient lines and replace them with new ones.”
The St. Joseph River Crossing Project comes at a cost of $3.8 million, plus $283,000 for engineering.
The Broadway and Willow Creek Project comes at a cost of $2.19 million, plus $289,000 for engineering.
Oosting said the funding is coming in the form of a low-interest loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. It will be paid back over 30 years.
