Clawson officials unveil sewer-CCTV and lead-service findings; 455 repairs planned under bond program

Assistant DPW superintendent Ry McDonald told the council on June 16 that a contractor has identified about 678 likely lead or unknown water services as part of a TMF-funded investigation required by the state, and that the city's CCTV program cleaned and inspected roughly 42.8 miles of sewer funded by the infrastructure improvement bond.

The findings will drive a multi-year sewer-rehabilitation program. AEW's sewer-rehab group has split the work into two contracts to be performed over 2026–2028: contract 1 (planned for 2026 construction) includes 58 open-cut repairs, 67 full-length cured-in-place liners and 120 sectional liners; contract 2 (planned for 2028) includes 59 open-cut repairs, 55 full-length liners and roughly 210 sectional liners. McDonald summarized those numbers as “about 455 sewer repairs” across both contracts.

Why it matters: the city's combined sewer system carries both stormwater and sanitary flows. The TMF investigation is the first step in identifying which water services contain lead so the city can plan replacements before the state's replacement deadline. The CCTV work gave a comprehensive condition inventory that the council and staff said will be used to prioritize repairs funded by the bond.

Details and homeowner impacts: ML Chartier—the contractor performing the water-service verification—completed the majority of external pothole investigations and reported roughly 15 external investigations remain. McDonald said about 80% of the remaining verifications will require interior access and that homeowners who receive notices must provide a photograph of the service line and meter so staff can determine material and whether a lead-line replacement is required under the state rule. He said, “we identified 678 likely lead or unknown water services,” and that the TMF grant is funding the verification work.

Private taps and cost responsibilities were emphasized. The CCTV work also inspected private sewer taps; staff said 102 notices will be sent to property owners whose taps are 50% or more defective and who will be required to repair them. Where a private tap is found inside a mainline defect being repaired by the city, McDonald said the tap will be replaced as part of the city's work. He told council that typical private-tap repairs can range from roughly $8,000 to $18,000 depending on road restoration and scope.

Construction approach and timing: the 2026 contract was out for bid (bid opening was read as June 24) and includes work south of 14 Mile; the 2028 contract will cover locations north of 14 Mile and east of Kuster on later phases. AEW and DPW described open-cut repairs (excavation and replacement) and trenchless options (full-length and sectional cure-in-place liners) and said liners generally "will outlive the host pipe." McDonald said no emergency repairs were found in the CCTV review; defects were classified into critical, high, medium and low priority categories.

Other technical notes: the CCTV crews documented cross-bore gas bores (four locations) and notified Consumers Energy; consumers will bore and reconnect new services and reimburse city restoration costs. Root infiltration, grease build-up and miscellaneous debris were also cited as common problems. Staff said the CCTV program made the sewers "probably as clean as they've ever been."

Next steps: staff will proceed with the advertised bids, issue homeowner notices for defective taps, use TMF and bond funds for prioritized repairs, and return to council with bid-award recommendations and schedule details. The DPW reminded residents that TMF internal investigations must be completed by mid-September to retain grant funding for the verification phase.

Attribution: Quotes and specific technical statements above are attributed to Ry McDonald (assistant superintendent, DPW) and to AEW's presenters (Mike Smith and sewer-rehab staff) as recorded during the city council meeting on June 16.