Desert Messenger

WHAT'S INSIDE 2 Hagely Demolition 3 Heroes Appreciation 4 Quartzsite Quilters donate 5 OHV use on Proving Grounds 6 Editorial 7 Celia's Party in Park 7 Health Expo 8 New MRI for Hospital 8 Enhanced 511 9 Golden Rule 10 Restaurants 10 Blythe Chief of Police letter 11 QES Track Teams 13 The Salvation Army 14 QIA 15 Eagle Egg Watch 15 Home Improvement 16 In Memoriam 16 Tips to Avoid Scams 17 Nancy's Kitchen 17 Herb Mama 17 Arbor Day 18 Churches 20 Puzzles 21 AA Meetings 22 Classifeds 22 Paul Winer's Cartoon www.DesertMessenger.com • "Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper" • 928-916-4235 WEDNESDAY, April 3, 2019 VOL. 15 # 297 Now in our 1 5 t h YEAR! Alwa y s FREE! SEE SEWER UPGRADE PAGE 21 ����� | S������ RAIN G�����-B��� Quartzsite Sewer upgrade project begins Learn more about Golden Rule Day on Page 9 The Town of Quartzsite has been looking to up- grade and expand its sewer system and wastewa- ter treatment plant for almost a decade. Finally the current administration has secured funding to up- grade the system and increasing capacity. On February 19, 2019 during a special meeting with Quartzsite Municipal Property Corporation, Quartzsite Town Council secured refi nancing loans and land leases with the US Government through Rural Utilities Service, US Dept. of Agriculture to upgrade the wastewater treatement plant and sewer system. Due to delays from previous admin- istration, construction costs have increased over the years. Back in 2014, former mayor Ed Foster sued his Town regarding his use of mayoral veto, and then proposed a settlement to eliminate the Quartzsite Police Department. He suggested using the money saved to pay for the upgrades and repairs on the Town's water and wastewater systems. Early in 2017, Mike Krebs, VP of PACE Engineering explained the renovation designs and took members of the council on a tour of the wastewater treatment facility. He explained the estimated cost of the whole project is $8.1 million. USDA funding includes a grant of around $2.9 million and a Loan of $3.4 million. The WIFA loan is around $1.6 million. Krebs explained that the town's sewer capacity has reached 80% and ADEQ requires an expan- sion. Winter seasonal fl ows are 300k to 400k GPD (gallons per day) and summer fl ows are 100k to 200k GPD with storm fl ows. The proposed capac- ity would increase the system to 900 GPD. Krebs also explained 15 manholes located in Tyson Wash were compromised and could fl ood during storm events. (Good news, tho! Manhole protec- tion construction begins in the next few months.) Emmitt Brinkerhoff, Public Works Director, said, "We have been holding off on these defi ciencies and deferred maintenance at the plant for quite some time because they have been waiting for the expansion." He explained if the expansion were not done, the Town would have to put a lot of money into rehabilitating the plant to get back to proper operations. Mayor Norm Simpson said, "The target is not to keep increasing fees, but to be able to have a sus- tainable project for future growth." During the regular Council Meeting of January 8th, 2019 Dan Jackson, VP of Willdan Financial Services, who has been the Town's water and waste- water consultants for the past 15 years, explained PACE Engineer Mike Krebs explains sewer upgrade design - 2017

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