Ribbon cutting ceremony marks the near completion of the decade-long sewer project
Onaway city officials, members of the city commission, local leaders and citizens, along with dignitaries from federal and state agencies, participated in a unique ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony Wednesday for the nearly-completed $13.6 million sewer system and wastewater treatment plant.
The ceremony, which took place at the northern most edge of the two treatment lagoons, concluded with members of the city commission cutting a symbolic yellow caution tape that had had been tucked into the tank of a toilet.
In a creative gesture, city manager Joe Hefele decided to use yellow caution tape because it was been an all-too familiar sight for residents of the community since the contractor broke ground in 2001.
Members of the commission lined up around the toilet and pressed down on the lever to cut the ribbon, which officials hope will open up a new chapter of economic growth for the City of Onaway.
HEFELE EXPRESSED his gratitude to the people attending the ceremony ?for this awesome project.? The sewer project started with conception and discussion in 1996.
?And here we are 10 years later, celebrating this,? said Hefele. ?It has been a very long project. Construction started in 2001?and we are almost done. It went over without very many hitches. It went extremely smooth, and I am sure a lot of communities have not had the relationship we were able to have with our contractor.?
Glawe, Inc. of Alpena did a majority of the construction work, while the engineering firm Wilcox Professional Services guided the city through the project.
?This is a very big project for such a small community, with only two people in the office (city hall),? said Hefele during his opening remarks. ?They were there for us every step of the way.?
Hefele commended crews from the DPW for their work in making the sewer connections, along with members of the city commission past and present for the many decisions that have needed to be made over the years.
Speakers at the ceremony included State Rep. Matt Gillard, along with representatives from U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Congressman Bart Stupak.
Of the $13.6 million, $11 million came from grant money. While every bit of the funding was important, Hefele said, the United States Department of Agriculture-Rural Development was by far the largest financial contributor, providing $7.5 million in grant funds and a loan of $2.5 million.
?THERE ARE quite a few representatives of that organization here. They funded a large, large, large part of that,? he said. ?They were basically the driving force behind this. I can?t even begin to say how much we appreciate that. They allowed this to happen and have funded other things here, and have stood behind the City of Onaway.
Hefele had heard many times that all of the money for projects went to southern Michigan communities, and none of it made its way north.
?For the City of Onaway, that simply is not true,? said Hefele. Hefele commended the citizens and residents for their vote of support of 1998, and for most of all, their patience through the three phases of construction.
?One thing that the public does not understand a lot of times, especially with the Onaway project, I went to a lot of different communities and have done a number of sewer projects in the last five or six years,? said Randy Scott of Wilcox Profession Services. ?In Onaway, the rate structure is about $10 to $15 a month less than the rest of those projects, and we did not build collection with those big projects.?
Residential sewer bills are $38 a month.
Scott said it was a team effort that made the project affordable. The city received grants from USDA-RD, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the United States Economic Administration, and Presque Isle County.
AMONG THE special guests at Wednesday?s event was Gene DeRossett, USDA-RD state director. He said the sewer project would not only improve the quality of life for Onaway?s citizens, but improve the economic environment.
?This community has had about $10 million invested,? DeRossett said. ?Every dollar th
DeRossett also added that when the 2006 USDA-RD annual summary is released in six weeks, the Onaway sewer project will be the centerpiece of the publication that will be distributed to other communities.
?The impact that this money has brought to the community is going to be felt for years and years to come,? Onaway Mayor Gary Wregglesworth said.
Wregglesworth added that many of the faces and names at this week?s ceremony will long be forgotten, but the work of the last 10 years will not.