ThisWeek CW 10/20/2011
Five residents of the Villages at Westchester told city council’s service committee Monday that the smell of sewer gases is so bad at times in their neighborhood that they can’t open windows or go outside.
The residents said they are not having sewage backups any more but at several times throughout the day, they have to close their windows and doors to avoid the smell of sewage.
“We had an issue with the sewer backing up at Old Creek Lane and Gender Road before you went in and recoated the line, and we appreciate that and hope that we don’t have further problems,” resident Bruce Tamte said. “But when I stop to leave the subdivision, there is a pungent stink coming from that culvert there, even with my car windows up.”
Tamte lives on Snowberry Lane and said his house itself isn’t directly affected by the problem. However, resident Heather Bolin of Meriden Court said the smell keeps her family inside.
“That’s in my backyard, and there are times during the day I can’t open my back windows,” Bolin said. “The smell is truly horrible. It isn’t an everyday, all-day occurrence, but it happens several times throughout the day and it seems to be getting worse.”
Canal Winchester public service director Matt Peoples said three pump stations converge at that point.
“We aren’t there as frequently as (residents) are, so we will look into it and may be checking if there are vented lids or not to use to sort the problem out,” he said.
Water reclamation manager Steve Smith said the city has dealt with similar issues in the past and believes they can be resolved.
“We recently received a complaint from another resident where we had vented manhole covers, so we closed those vents and that seems to have helped,” Smith said.
Peoples and Smith agreed that Bolin’s information that the smell is not constant but happens at different times during the day might suggest the problem is related to the cycling of the sewer system.
“We had a problem once before related to when Lithopolis was flushing a certain line. When we found it, we were able to resolve it right then and there, so hopefully, we can do that here, too,” Smith said.
In related news, the city is in the design phase of the 2012 streets capital improvement project plan, which will include an upgrade of storm sewer lines along Trine Street and Oak Street, as well as provide sewage lines to Hanners Park.
“We have sewer along there with 100-year-old or older clay pipe and we’re not exactly sure of the alignment of it because it isn’t straight,” construction services administrator Bill Sims said. “We’ve sent a camera down there and É it might go under foundations. We’ll look to abandon that line and put in all new pipe.”
The next service committee meeting will take place at 5:45 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at Town Hall, 10 N. High St.