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Royal Oak approves Eganics contract to curb fats, oils and grease in downtown sewer system
Summary
The Royal Oak City Commission voted to approve a one-year, front-loaded service agreement with Eganics to educate food-service establishments, test sanitary lines and draft enforcement language intended to reduce FOG-related sewer problems and the city's monthly treatment costs.
Royal Oak's City Commission voted July 28 to approve a service agreement with Eganics aimed at reducing fats, oils and grease (FOG) entering the city's sewer system.
City staff told commissioners the city currently spends roughly $8,500 to $9,000 a month on enzyme or tablet treatments to manage FOG in restaurant-heavy areas. "Because of FOG, we have to treat, put tablets in our sewer system ... it was a regular occurrence that we would have backups," a staff presenter said during the meeting. The Eganics program focuses on front-end prevention through business education, targeted testing and GIS-based recordkeeping.
Under the contract, Eganics will visit about 106 food-preparation sites (restaurants, schools, churches and similar facilities), perform testing at facility cleanouts to help identify sources, document results in a reporting system and recommend ordinance language to enable enforcement if education does not produce compliance. City Attorney Mr. Grochowski described the agreement as front-loaded: Eganics does most of the setup and data work in the first year and the city pays an upfront portion for that initial effort.
Commissioners asked how the program will be enforced and whether the city will receive follow-up reporting. Staff said the proposal includes suggested ordinance language and that the vendor will provide a year-end report including testing data and metrics showing whether backups have declined.
A motion to approve the agreement passed on a voice vote. City staff said the intention is to reduce reliance on monthly treatment tablets over time and to improve sewer performance in the downtown service area.
What happens next: staff will implement the vendor's onboarding and monitor testing results; the commission may see a report after one year documenting outcomes and recommendations for continued enforcement or scaling back tablet treatments.
