Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Sewer topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Saint Francis adopts ordinance requiring maintenance of private lift stations after odor probe
Summary
After an MSA presentation showing reduced sewer odor at the KK and Lanham intersection, the city council approved an ordinance giving the city authority to require maintenance and reporting for privately owned lift stations to prevent recurring sewage odors.
A majority of the Saint Francis common council on March 3 approved an ordinance that lets the city require maintenance and documentation for privately owned lift stations after consultants traced recurring sewage odors to a lakefront lift station.
MSA consultant Emma, who led a multi-step investigation, told the council the team placed MMSD odor loggers in Saint Francis manholes, inspected a privately owned lift station serving the lakefront Park Shore area, examined the force main and vent pipes and coordinated with MMSD. "They did that probably a month or two ago. And since then, we've had no complaints of odor," Emma said, describing that the immediate measure reduced reported nuisances.
The ordinance repeals and re-creates section 30-3-74-2 of the city code to give the sewer utility authority to require more-regular maintenance of private lift stations, to set maintenance schedules and to allow city intervention if owners fail to comply. An official stated the lift station was sized for an area that has not fully developed, meaning wastewater can sit longer than intended and produce gases that cause the corner stench.
"What that means is that quite often when waste goes into that lift station, it may sit in there for hours or even days before it cycled and pumped into the force main," the official explained during the ordinance discussion, describing how extended holding time increases odor risk.
MSA recommended more frequent cleaning of the force main from the lift station to the gravity main and replacement of vent-pipe media on a regular schedule; the firm said the measures it proposed are the lowest-cost, quickest fixes while longer-term options are studied. City staff and the consultant said the ordinance would not apply to typical homeowner grinder pumps.
A council member moved to adopt the repeal and creation of section 30-3-74-2; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The ordinance passed at the meeting; no separate roll-call vote with individual tallies was recorded in the minutes.
Council members and staff said next steps include continued monitoring — the city hopes to leave odor loggers in the sewers if MMSD agrees — and enforcement of maintenance schedules once the ordinance takes effect.
