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Marquette County adopts $10 million KI Sawyer sewer improvement plan, seeks Clean Water SRF help
Summary
The Marquette County Board voted April 21 to adopt a project plan for roughly $10,000,000 in sanitary sewer and wastewater treatment improvements at KI Sawyer and authorized submission of an application to the Michigan Clean Water SRF program, which could offer a 50% grant/50% loan funding mix.
The Marquette County Board of Commissioners voted to adopt a project plan and submit an application to the Michigan Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) to finance upgrades to the KI Sawyer sanitary sewer and wastewater treatment system.
Rob Anderson, a consultant with TDI/GEI who presented the engineering report, said the board-selected alternative comprises pump station and sewer-main replacements, a new UV disinfection system to replace the existing gas-chlorine process, screening upgrades, a sludge drying bed and a new plant generator. "It is a $10,000,000 project overall," Anderson said during the presentation. He described safety and maintenance drivers for replacing the gas-chlorine disinfection and moving screening equipment inside a heated enclosure.
The presentation included a user-cost analysis showing residential-equivalent billing impacts under different funding mixes; Anderson said SRF funding commonly provides a best offer around a 50% grant and 50% loan, and that a 100% loan scenario would raise monthly user costs. Commissioners asked technical and funding questions at the close of the public hearing.
The board then considered and adopted a resolution formally approving the plan and designating the board chair as the county's signing authority for project submittal. The motion to adopt the resolution was made by the vice chair and supported by Commissioner Lullo; a roll call vote was taken and the motion passed. The resolution directs staff to submit the plan as a first step to secure SRF financing; the SRF program will score applications and return funding offers later in the season.
Why it matters: The improvements address aging pipes, lift stations and equipment that the consultant said are in the poorest condition. Public commenters—including a local wastewater expert who called the project "not glamorous" but essential—urged the county to treat the work as infrastructure investment to support development in the Sawyer area.
What happens next: Staff will submit the SRF application and await the state's scoring and funding offer, expected later this year; if SRF funding is not available, staff indicated the project plan can be adapted for other programs, such as USDA Rural Development.
