Trustees: Romeo must protect resident sewer capacity as Bruce Township seeks more allocation

Trustees spent an extended portion of the Feb. 24 meeting addressing requests from neighboring Bruce Township for additional wastewater treatment capacity and how those requests would affect Romeo residents.

Trustees said the village must prioritize residents because local taxpayers paid for past plant expansions. "Why should Romeo have to pay for your service or why should our people do without?" a trustee said during the discussion, emphasizing the village's legal and financial responsibilities to reserve capacity for parcels that have been allocated capacity in the system.

Council members described the village's contract structure as a combination of fixed and variable billing and said Bruce Township has been generally reliable in past payments. But council members said Bruce's recent asks appeared to change during the conversation: an initial upfront ask reported at about $100,000 later moved toward $125,000 and additional long-term capacity would push totals "just shy of a million," according to a trustee's summary of the figures discussed.

Trustees asked Bruce Township to put a concrete written request in front of the council stating precisely what capacity they want and what they will pay, so Romeo can produce a firm cost and determine whether it can responsibly provide the requested allocation without jeopardizing service to village residents.

Supervisor Phil Brook of Bruce Township was referenced and said he would send the request in writing; trustees also said plant operator billing formulas and reserve calculations require careful review before the council will agree to a sale of additional capacity.

No sale or transaction was approved at the meeting; trustees directed staff and the sewer committee to await Bruce Township's written proposal and bring explicit numbers back to the council for a formal decision.