John Coffelt, Editor

Manchester Water and Sewer Director Jeffery Perry told the Water Commission during the March 6 meeting that three of the city’s wastewater collection pumping stations will need upgrades in the near future.

“We are gathering data on all our pumping stations. Three pumping stations are currently at or over capacity,” Perry said.

These include Northridge, Fredonia and the Highway 55 stations, and the department is looking at the 7-11 station to look at future growth capacity.

According to a report by Engineer Adam Carter, 267 houses are currently built or approved for the Northridge on a station that was designed for 215 homes. The Fredonia station has over 200 homes discharging to that station and 300 more are currently approved.

The report recommends the plans be made for an upgrade soon and that no new house be allowed on that station.

Mayor Joey Hobbs clarified to the board that system would only be “over capacity” if all of the houses that are approved are built and are discharging into the system.

“I just wanted to clarify that because when we leave here, there’s going to be a lot of people who run out here jump on the computer and say how bad the world’s ending,” Hobbs said. “The reality of the situation is, yes we do have the approvals that we could get there, but we are not there today.”

“So we have time to look for a plan,” he said.

Sewer inspection progressing

An extensive cleanout and televising project contracted with Duke’s Root Control is progressing with 1,014 manhole inspections completed and 65,300 feet of sewer line televised and 10,700 feet that need to be cleaned out before televising.

Duke’s Stuart Tillery told the commission that the city’s “unorthodox” decision not to clean and CCTV a portion of the lines has saved over $100,000.

“This system was clean enough to televise without having to clean it out ahead of time,” Tillery said. 

Smoke testing will begin in the spring. Residents in the areas being smoke tested will be informed two to seven days before work begins.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.