For the last ten years, Baldwin County Sewer Service (BCSS) held an agreement with the City of Fairhope for the City to treat the wastewater from BCSS customers, with a maximum capacity of 1,500 customers, on the west side of Fish River at their Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). There are currently 100 active customers in this area. This agreement encompasses BCSS maintaining sewer force mains on several roads and a lift station on the west side of Fish River, in addition to handling the customers’ accounts and billing. The contract between the two organizations includes a condition that the original treatment rate paid to the City of Fairhope by BCSS can be changed after five years to reflect the City’s current base treatment rate to the wastewater customers who reside in the City of Fairhope corporate limits. This agreement between BCSS and the City of Fairhope expires in 2017, and as of now, the contract has not been renewed.
In December 2016, BCSS received a letter from the City of Fairhope announcing that they do not intend to renew or extend the wastewater treatment agreement under any circumstances, and a follow-up conversation between BCSS and the City of Fairhope’s attorney confirmed this. After BCSS began to make other arrangements for the western Fish River customers, in March 2017, City of Fairhope Mayor Karin Wilson announced that the City is open to discuss continuing the treatment agreement. A week later, BCSS delivered a letter to the Mayor’s office officially requesting to renew the agreement for another ten years. BCSS and the City have been corresponding since then, and we will update everyone when a final decision has been made. In the meantime, BCSS must continue with a plan to reroute those customers, and we are looking at all options to serve these customers.
May 16, 2017 Update:
BCSS is still going through the permit process with the Core of Engineers as a backup to any alternative options to serve the customers on the west side of Fish River. As part of the permitting process, BCSS is helping to dig areas at the Honey Road boat ramp on Fish River. This is at the Corps of Engineers request, and it is only so that archeologists can determine historical significance there as part of the Corps of Engineers permit to possibly bore Fish River. We are not doing any work towards boring Fish River, and this does not mean that we will definitely bore the river in the future. We hope to be able to announce how those customers will be served going forward in the next two weeks.
In the wastewater business, there is no perfect solution; there are only better solutions. We have considered alternative solutions and have proposed a good alternative solution, but we remain open to further suggestions from the various stakeholders in the area. BCSS did not create this problem. It exists because humans create waste. Our plans consider the costs to our customers and weigh the risks and benefits to the environment.
Please contact Lisa Burke with BCSS with any further questions about this project: (251) 971-1516 or lisab@baldwincountysewer.com.
