Council approves sewer program plan; directs cameraing of first four regions

Tim of HR Green presented a proposed 10‑year sanitary sewer maintenance program and recommended beginning with cameraing (televising) to assess line condition. He said Swisher has roughly 33,000 linear feet of pipe of varying ages and suggested a typical televising cost of about $4 per foot as an order‑of‑magnitude estimate.

"We picked a 10 year cycle," Tim said, describing the plan to break the community into 10 regions, televise each region, then prioritize lining and spot repairs based on the findings. He described three principal actions for each region: televising to identify condition, lining sections that need rehabilitation, and spot repairs where joint failures or localized collapses occur.

Council discussed financing, and staff noted there is bond money remaining from a roadway project; one exchange put the available fund in a range near $396,000 and estimated roughly $121,000 would be needed to repay the county for a roadway work item if used. Tim recommended starting with the oldest areas and said an initial annual program target of about $50,000 a year is a reasonable planning figure. Council members asked about how disruptive repairs would be; Tim said lining can often be done from manholes without tearing up pavement, while spot repairs require excavation.

Council agreed to direct staff to seek proposals to camera regions 1 through 4 and to return estimates for lining and repairs. The chair asked Tim to get numbers as soon as possible so that staff can determine whether leftover bond funds could accelerate the first year's work before the bond spend deadline next May.