- Grand Ledge residents have been complaining about tainted water and high water bills to go along with it and they're asking...What is the plan?
- We spoke with Grand Ledge 1st Ward Councilman Brett Gillepsie who says the outdated infrastructure plays a big role.
- Within the last 5 years, the city of Grand Ledge has increased the average water bill by about $56 a month.
- In the attached story, we hear from city officials and residents about the future of water in Grand Ledge
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
As Grand Ledge works to improve their drinking and wastewater systems, city officials say residents could see a possible increase in water bills in the near future.
The wild life here in Grand Ledge have no complaints about the water but as for the people... Well, that's a different story.
"The water is pretty terrible, pretty consistently in Grand Ledge if I'm being honest," said DJ McAffrey, Co- owner of Average Joe's Plumbing and Drains.
"In fact it's interesting because 100 years ago Grand Ledge would get like 1 million people a year because of our "mineral rich waters" they called it "healing waters" said Grand Ledge Councilman Brett Gillespie
But times have changed and the infrastructure has not.
"All these facilities are aging out. A lot of the water facilities in the state of Michigan were built in the 1970s with money from the Clean Water Act," Gillespie said.
The Grand Ledge Wastewater Treatment Plant is one of those facilities and the effects are widely noticed.
"Calcium deposits, iron, all sorts of stuff in your fixtures and cartridges. When you turn on the water it just starts spitting out with not much pressure. Things like that is what you see a lot of" said McAffrey.
And that's forcing community members to pay closer attention to their water usage.
"We don't water the lawn and the flower beds, occasionally, just when the need it, but as for the lawn..." said one local homeowner.
City officials say inflation in construction costs have forced them to go back to the drawing board a few times but they say they recently began working with a new firm to try to keep costs around 50 million dollars and now they're waiting to hear back from the state.
"We're trying to let the state know we need money, and not just loans, because that means residents still have to pay, we need grant money for these facilities," Gillespie said.
Within the last 5 years, the City of Grand Ledge has increased the average water bill by about $56 a month.
"We're looking at having to increase again this year another $15 a month and then we'd have another roughly $30 that we'd have to do over the next couple years to get the project financed" Councilman Gillespie continued.
City officials hope that with the help of the state, residents won't have to experience price increases for much longer
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