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August 09, 2005
Sewer Woes
As many of you have either heard, or are now hearing, and I'm sure it'll be in the media, the City of Portland has been issued a moratorium on all sewer taps from the State of Tennessee until further notice. While this is by no means a pleasant thing to discuss or be going through, rumors tend to spin off of things like this so I wanted to explain a few things as soon as possible.
First of all, this was not really a surprise to a lot of people. I and other members of the government, past and present, have been saying this was likely to happen for some time. The amazing amount of growth that this city has experienced in the last 5-7 years has just been too taxing for some parts of the system. The good news is, that thanks to teh diligence of employees in the Public Works Dept., Steve Whitehead, Interim Public Works Superindendent of Works and current Assistant Superintendent warned of problems some time ago, which has allowed us to get out in front of some of the problems. When new Superintendent Brian Goodwin came on, he has helped us make vast strides in addressing teh weaknesses in our sewer systems
Mainly, the State was concerned about two areas. First, there are a few areas in town wher manholes "chronically" overflow. This is defined, if memory serves as either 3 or 5 times a year I cant remember right now. Some months ago, we hired engineers to do a water and sewer master plan for our City and they identified these palces and found that some were doing so because for some reason in the past, as new subdivisions came on such, certain big lines were feeding into smaller lines on down the system line causing backups during big storm events. While some of these places are going to be hard to get to, addressing those problems shouldn't be too awful difficult. Along with a few sewer pump upgrades, and a redesign on a piece of equipment at the sewer plant, already in the design phase, most of those problems should be fixed.
Second, they felt we should be more aggressive in our sewer pre-treatment program. This program inspects industrial users of our sewer and examines what htey put into the system, performs tests, and issues citation, etc. This has in the past fell on the sewer palnt operator to do. As the city has grown, however, so has the job, and the City is already in the process of advertising for someone to be hired to oversee and do the program almost exclusively.
All projects that have been approved already will be honored by the City so noone who has spent money on a development already approved should be effected. Aside from that, it'll just take a while for us to catch up to the growth that Portland has experienced lately. We had already enacted a self-imposed moratorium of sorts to give us some time to catch up, so hopefully, this will allow us to prepare for the next wave of growth we are sure to experience in the future as Nashville spills it populace closer and closer to our city. In the meantime, if there are any other questions, feel free to email me at the address included T_Coker@cityofportlantn.gov
Posted by at August 9, 2005 11:55 PM
Comments
portland has alot of trouble`s but the whole state s in trouble.and all about money? (money money )that all I here!! everybody want`s to line there pocket`s.portland is acting like nashville,now. Soon people will be moving out of the state to ky.portland needs things here for kids to do,to stay out of trouble.ky has in bgky has alot place`s to go for kids to do.there is there state tax there but they don`t__,_ on taxs...portland city.
Posted by: pat at July 31, 2006 08:54 PM
I would like to know if one of these areas is The Richland
Posted by: bill ham at August 10, 2005 08:29 PM
Forward growth and development demands pro-active measures that are economically, socially and environmentally responsible.
Balancing immediate concerns, while addressing projected needs, should be approached with a measure of reasonable and achievable milestones that are sensitive to the needs of the community at-large.
My wife and I, over the last 20 years have seen several communities go through this process. In as much, we are pleased to see that Portland has attracted a talented team at the municipal and planning level and feel that Portland is well equipped to not only make a smooth and equitable transition in the short term; however, we feel that there is a conscious effort being made to make our town an example for progressive communities in the future.
Posted by: A. Ledbetter at August 10, 2005 02:06 PM
I have lived in Portland for only 2 years, and in that short time have heard it repeated several times that "Portland is nothing but a swamp"...I really like Portland and hopefully, the obviously well known water issues, can be resolved quickly and the city can continue to grow to meet the needs of all the new housing developments.
Posted by: gw at August 10, 2005 10:09 AM
This set back is disappointing, but we are positive we will move forward and overcome. Portland is struggling with growth in all areas and that brings unexpected problems. Our infrastructure has to be a priority and I know many are working hard to accomplish this.The good news is that if we were not growing we would not be facing these bumps in the road. So SMILE, good times are coming for our city !!
Posted by: Councilman Callis at August 10, 2005 09:11 AM
When the new Three-Star requirements were issued last year, Assistant Commissioner of Economic and Community Development (ECD) Joe Barker explained them to all of the attendees in Nashville.
The number one requirement: If a city has a water or a sewer moratorium, it will not be a Three-Star City. Period.
Specifically, on page 3 of the Three-Star Guidelines, there is a single paragraph:
"Non-Qualification:
Water/Sewer Moratorium"
The reason for the requirement, of course, is, if a city has a water/sewer moratorium, the city won't be able to attract new housing developments and new industries.
I think, later on, ECD decided to "relax" that requirement a little: if the city is "spending money to address the problem, then that's okay."
It's important to keep in mind, however, that such a "relaxing the rule" might end at any time. Portland does need to keep its water and sewer issues focused, or it may be jeopardizing its Three-Star status.
Posted by: Charlie Myers at August 10, 2005 08:57 AM