from The Richmond Report (Westosha Report)
8/9/02
by Greg Cryns
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VILLAGE ANNEXES PROPERTY TO BRIDGE SUBDIVISION

The village board annexed the 33 acre parcel along Kuhn Road owned by Walter and Kay Thomas at its regular meeting on August 7th. The move allowed the board to finalize the annexation of 224 acres between Hill Road and Kuhn Road which is owned by Marcamp Investments. The Marcamp property was annexed last fall, but it was separated from the village by the Thomas property. A new subdivision, called The Classics, is proposed to occupy the 224 annexed acres.

Unlike last month's meeting where an overflow crowd attended to protest large developments in the Richmond area, this meeting was attended by only by a small handful of citizens. Comments from the audience were solicited, but none were made.

SEWER-TREATMENT PLANT TO COST $7.8 MILLION

According to Village President, Kevin Brusek, the Marcamp development is critical to funding  the village's proposed new sewage-treatment plant.  The development must pay one-tenth of the hookup fees each year after the first house is built or within 24 months after the annexation agreement is
approved, whichever comes first. Those fees will be used to fund the new plant. Penalties for failure to comply by the developer were not discussed.

Village engineer, Timothy Hartnett, presented plans and cost estimates for the sewage treatment plant. The current plant is rated to processes 375,000 gallons per day. The new plant would process 500,000 gallons per day.

The cost for all sewage projects will cost an estimated $7.8 million, said Hartnett. The projects include a water reclamation facility ($5.5 million), sewer sanitation
($1 million), demolition of the existing plant ($100,000)
and a water re-use infrastructure ordinance ($500,000). An additional allowance of $500,000 will help cover unexpected order changes.

Part of the cost will be defrayed by government grants, stated Hartnett who hopes that the final total cost to the village taxpayers will be $5.4 million or less. The village must convince the EPA that the project is feasible before approval is granted. The proposal will be submitted to the EPA by the end of August.

Bids for the project cannot be obtained until the EPA approves the loan, said Hartnett. He expects to get the bids in early next year and hopes for a construction start date in the spring of 2003. If all goes well, the plant would be "online" in the fall of 2003.

Part of the project includes the use of "affluent water" which would be used for irrigation of village parks but also golf courses and even the fire department. The village would be able to sell the processed water at 10 cents per 1,000 gallons for such purposes. Hartnett said that the idea is novel to the Midwest, but added that it is mandated in California and other western states. "Instead of just discarding the processed water into creeks, we develop more uses for it," said Hartnett. "It could be used for cooling systems at manufacturing plants, for example."

"This is not grey water," said Brusek. "Our number one concern is public health."

Brusek announced that there will be a public town hall meeting in September. The Urban Land Institute will make a presentation about what Richmond must do to survive and thrive in the future. After an analysis of the area the ULI recommends that the entire community organizes its vision for the future and evaluates the impact of major changes such as large housing developments.

In other business, after an executive session which included police chief, Roger Szewczyk, the village board approved the hiring of a fourth full-time police officer and announced that it will look into using a STEP program for employees.

Brusek is looking for a professional town planner "who understands our best interests and needs" to be hired to help the Planning Commission handle business and housing developments.

The board is also looking for a solution to a zoning problem along Routes 12 and 173. Two residents complained that their banks refused to offer refinancing options due to current zoning regulations which would not allow their houses to be rebuilt if destroyed.

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