ABOUT US:
Southern Clinton County Municipal Utilities Authority (SCCMUA) is a Michigan Municipal Corporation, which owns, operates and maintains a 5.0 MGD Wastewater Treatment facility in Clinton County. SCCMUA serves the Townships of Bath, DeWitt and Watertown, as well as the City of DeWitt.
SCCMUA discharges into the Looking Glass River in Clinton County and maintains a current National Pollutant Discharge Eliminating System (NPDES) permit. Its capacity is shared by the four municipalities it serves. SCCMUA is governed by a ten (10) member Board of Commissioners comprised as follows: 2 representatives from Bath Twp, 2 representatives from Watertown Twp, 1 representative from the City of DeWitt and 5 representatives from DeWitt Twp. It currently employs fifteen(15) full time employees. SCCMUA also operates and maintains (contractually) the wastewater collection systems – lift stations (51), manholes, force main (over 30 miles), sewer collection pipes (greater than 135 miles of various line size) for the municipalities.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Board of Commissioner meetings: held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m.
HISTORY:
Early in 1975, DeWitt Township and the City of DeWitt were notified by the Water Resources Commission that their wastewater plant discharges were no longer meeting State and Federal water pollution control requirements. The Clinton County Department of Public Works was designated lead applicant for the USEPA grant application on the Step 1 Facility plan to include Bath, DeWitt, Watertown Township and the City of DeWitt in the summer of 1975. The four communities formed the Southern Clinton County Sanitary Sewer Authority on January 1, 1976 and the lead applicant status was transferred to the Sewer Authority. The grant was received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department of Natural Resources in April, 1976. The facility plan was finished in November, 1976 and recommended the construction of a 5.0 million gallon per day, regional advanced wastewater treatment plant to serve the four communities constituting the Authority. The proposed wastewater treatment plant would replace the existing DeWitt Twp and City of DeWitt plants.
Bids were taken in April, 1978. The bids on the plant and related pumping stations totaled approximately $11,000,000. The total cost of the project including engineering, legal, bonding, and administration totaled $12,302,000. The State and Federal grant totaled about $9,750,000 with Bath Township’s share of $380,000; DeWitt Township’s share of $1,547,000; the City of DeWitt’s share of $300,000; and Watertown Township’s share of $505,000.
The Authority and each community entered into an agreement with the Clinton County Board of Commissioners in April, 1978 to authorize the County to sell bonds for the project. Lower interest rates on the bonds were obtained by using this procedure.
Construction started in September, 1978 with the plant went into operation in October, 1980. The wastewater that enters the plant is now treated to standards equal to or surpassing those set by the Federal and State governments.