Engineers present $9.23 million plan to fix Elsie’s aging water system

FB Engineering presented a recommended drinking-water improvement project designed to address decades-old cast-iron mains, iron-laden groundwater and limited firefighting capacity in the village of Elsie. Project manager Elaine Benma told the council the preferred scope would replace roughly 1.5 miles of undersized mains, construct an iron-removal plant to treat the three wells, replace Well 1 and add a mixer to the elevated storage tank.

"Total project cost for all of these improvements is just over 9,000,000. It's $9,230,000," Elaine Benma, project manager at FB Engineering, told the council during a public hearing. Kevin Daud, an engineering-in-training on the presentation team, said much of the distribution system dates to the 1930s and has tuberculation that has reduced effective pipe diameter and system capacity.

Benma said the team evaluated four alternatives — no action, optimization of the existing system, regionalizing water from a partner community and construction of the recommended improvements — and identified construction as the only option that meets the project objectives. She added most of the mains work lies within road right-of-way and that the new treatment site would likely require acquisition of about eight acres adjacent to the existing well field.

Engineers warned residents of short-term construction impacts including noise, dust and temporary detours, and described mitigation steps including limited work hours and contractor coordination. The presentation also included an estimated schedule for state Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) funding: the project plan would be submitted in June, a draft SRF funding list typically appears in early September, design and bidding would follow and the loan closing with the Michigan Finance Authority would need to occur by August 2027 to meet SRF requirements.

On financing, Benma said a change in EGLE’s overburdened threshold left Elsie just above the cutoff by roughly $1,018 — meaning the project would likely receive a loan-only SRF package rather than the deeper principal forgiveness reserved for overburdened communities. She gave residents a working estimate: "It's estimated at about an $87 per month rate increase to your water bills" for the full $9.23 million package if financed with a 30-year SRF loan at approximately 2.75 percent, while noting scope reductions and alternative funding (USDA Rural Development, EDA, congressional community project funding) could lower that burden.

Council members used the Q&A to press on site acquisition options, whether the new well must be at a specific parcel, potential effects on household plumbing and hydrant flow for firefighting. Engineers said flushing and temporary chlorination would be required when new mains are put into service and that the project would improve overall water quality and system reliability. The council did not vote on the project at the meeting but later approved a planning resolution authorizing formal project planning and an authorized representative to pursue DWSRF funds.