Group ready to 'go to the mat' over sewage plant

Killen - Members of the group East Lauderdale Environmental Conscious Citizens presented the town council with 7,200 names Monday in a petition against the construction of a sewage treatment plant on Bluewater Creek in Center Star.

"If the council is ready to go forward, then we're ready to go to the mat," said Jim Akin, spokesman for the group. "We've got the resources in place to take them on."

The council has sought for more than a year to construct a sewage treatment facility to handle planned and future growth in the town that lies just outside Florence on the U.S. 72 corridor.

The original site proposed for the sewage treatment plant was never presented to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for review. The site did not meet the criteria for a long-term sewer operation to meet the town's needs.

The proposal involves a franchise agreement between Killen and Alabama Utility Services. Although a contract has been prepared, the mayor and council decided to delay voting on it until ADEM issues its permits for the project.

Akin asked the mayor and council to sign a letter to abandon the project at the site and consider alternate options, including a 17.5-acre tract of land within the town's limits.

To a packed crowd, Mayor Jerry Mitchell said he'd heard their comments from the previous meeting in December and had been looking for other ways to make a sewage treatment plant a reality, including finding money that would allow Killen to hook its sewage to the system in Florence.

"Our sixth proposal just came back as unfeasible," he said. "We're on our seventh proposal now. Engineers from Florence and our engineers are working together on a different approach that hopefully will be less expensive."

Previous reports on the price to hook to Florence have put the cost between $4 million and $5 million.

Councilwoman Connie Parrish said she was willing to risk being re-elected to her seat if it meant Killen would benefit.

"We've gotten a lot of flack over this, and, the truth is, no one wants a sewage treatment plant in their backyard, and they're upset about property values," she said. "But it's state-of-the-art, and we wouldn't go forward with this if we didn't believe in it."

ADEM will open its public comment period today, and those who want to respond can do so via mail, e-mail or telephone.

Unanimous actions taken at Monday's meeting included:

• approving the purchase of a digital camera system for the police department.
• approving the purchase of a pitching mound for the baseball field.
• approving appointments to the Board of Adjustments, Library Board and Historical Board.
• approving a revised sign ordinance.

Michelle Rupe Eubanks can be reached at 740-5745 or michelle.eubanks@timesdaily.com.