By Jeff Vorva
Former longtime Beecher Administrator Robert Barber brought an issue to the village’s attention that could lead into a bigger issue.
During the October 15 meeting, Public Works Director Matt Connor said that Barber informed him recently of water gushing on the Cardinal Creek Golf Course and after doing some investigating, bigger trouble could be ahead for the village’s infrastructure.
“We found 13 service lines leaking that are below grade that never surfaced,” Connor said.
He said the leaks are finding their way into stone trenches and going out to the golf course. Connor said it was a good thing Barber alerted him to the problem.
“We’re currently working on shutting all of those off,” Connor said. “As you guys know in the past, a lot of these same service lines had the same issues.
“We had a Public Works Committee meeting before this, and it’s something to think about in the future as to how we will go about replacing all of these service lines.”
He said that 30 of them have already been shut off, and there could be “numerous” more the village is not aware of that could be leaking, and that’s probably the cause of the village’s water loss.
“Right now, we’re just turning them off,” Connor said. “But in order to replace the long-side service, we’re talking $4,000-$5,000 (per service) for replacement. It’s going to be a huge investment. It’s going to become a real problem.”
Thus far, the problems are limited to some subdivision in which the infrastructure was put in place 20 years ago, but could affect new construction, as well.
Public hearing planned
There will be a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m., October 24, at Beecher Village Hall (625 Dixie Highway), to consider testimony from a petitioner for a vape/smoke shop at 759 W. Indiana Ave.
Meeting time change
The village board meetings times have changed and will start at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. beginning October 28.