The Edison Township Council introduced multiple bond ordinances to fund utility upgrades and approved the introduction of a gravity sewer inspection contract, while council members pressed for firm start dates and clearer plans to address infiltration and illegal private connections.

On first reading the council introduced a water-utility bond ordinance described in the agenda as $17,745,000 and a sewer-utility bond ordinance described as $13,908,375; both were set for public hearing and further consideration on Sept. 10. The council also advanced the procurement for the gravity sewer system inspection program Phase 2, a contract listed at $2,109,884.

Council members used the discussion to press staff for specifics about timing and scope. Councilman Brasher repeatedly asked when work would start and urged the administration to provide a date for smoke testing and follow-up enforcement: "When are you going to start it? I don't wanna hear 'shortly' — I'm looking for a date," he said. Utility director Bob Smith answered that smoke testing is planned and that residents would be notified in advance: "We will smoke test at some point. We will notify the residents the areas we're doing. So if they see smoke in their homes, that this is what it's from. It's not harmful."

Officials said the sewer inspection program is being done in phases; the vendor will camera roughly the system in five sections and then the township will evaluate where to follow with repairs and targeted smoke tests to locate illegal connections and inflow. Council members and staff discussed infiltration and inflow (I&I) causes: residents tying sump pumps and roof leaders into the sanitary collection system, and groundwater infiltration at pipeline defects. "We've found some intrusions," Smith said; "we haven't found anything really major to this point." The council asked staff to circulate maps showing the Phase 2 sections and to return with a schedule for field work.

Administrators and council members also framed the bond measures as part of keeping utilities in municipal control. Council members emphasized that the water-utility bond would be paid by the water utility and not by general property taxes; the finance director explained those obligations are the responsibility of the respective utility and would be repaid from utility revenues, not general ad valorem taxes.

The council recorded introductions of the ordinances by roll call and set further hearings for Sept. 10. The sewer inspection contract will proceed to award; staff said Phase 2 completes earlier work and moves inspections into the next set of neighborhoods. Council members asked staff to provide a publicly accessible breakdown of the inspection phasing and to publish an anticipated start date for field operations.

What residents asked for: clear pre-notice before smoke testing, a list of neighborhoods in Phase 2, and a schedule of how inspection findings will be prioritized for repair. Town staff committed to circulating maps and a schedule to the council and to notifying residents before any smoke testing or intrusive excavation.

Why it matters: the measures are intended to locate and reduce sanitary inflow and infiltration that increase treatment costs, storm-related overflows and wastewater-volume charges; council debate highlights community impatience for visible repairs and for enforcement against illegal residential hookups.

Sources and next steps: the water- and sewer-bond ordinances were introduced on first reading and set for Sept. 10 public hearings; the township expects to award the Phase 2 inspection contract and to circulate detailed maps and start dates to the public."