The Fife Lake Area Utility Authority (FLAUA) is comprised of Fife Lake Village, Fife Lake Township and Springfield Township customers. The FLAUA operates under the same guidelines and requirements as most other types of local government. The sewer plant was built to protect the pristine 617 acre Fife Lake, as well as the homes and businesses surrounding it.
FLAUA received an EPA grant to help fund the sewer system in 1979. The FLAUA used bonds to pay for the remainder of the cost. Each of the three municipal governments appoints 3 members of the FLAUA board for a 9 member board. Board terms are for 4 years. In 2014, the FLAUA was awarded a SAW Grant in the amount of over $651,000 from the State of Michigan to begin the process of testing and engineering to plan for upgrades to the 30 year old system. Changes in state and federal requirements have resulted in the need for some costly changes to our system. Aging pumps and mechanical equipment, as well as lack of availability of replacement parts has required the board to have an assessment performed by our engineering firm Fleis & Vandenbrink, and planning to begin for major upgrades. We have now completed the nearly $7 million dollar project within the project budget. Thank you to those board members who participated in the Steering Committee to drive this project: Lisa Leedy, LoriAnn Rognlie, Jonathon Rose and former board member William Fisk as well as Treasurer Jodi Velez. Due to the success, this project received an outstanding development award at the Michigan Township Association/Grand Traverse County Planning Awards ceremony in November 2016. Thank you to an outstanding partner in Fleis and Vandenbrink, as well as our key staff members Ben Kladder, John DeVol, Ian Neerkan, Ken Mlcek, Jim VanDyke, Brian Lee and Jim Fleis. Our USDA reps Blake Smith and Andy Grandskog set the bar very high for us and were outstanding to work with. Thank you to Tom Greer our attorney for helping us navigate the sea of paperwork. |