Plymouth Trustees Spar Over Sewer, Water Study

Trustees in Plymouth Township are divided over whether to provide water and sewer service to a planned housing development in neighboring Salem Township.

A feasibility is under way to determine if the capacity exists to do so, but some trustees say the township shouldn’t get into the utility business, The Plymouth Observer/Hometownlife.com reports.

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Trustees Bob Doroshewitz and Chuck Curmi voted against the feasibility study at a meeting last week. Trustee Mike Kelly voted for it, but said “you’ll have to do a really good selling job afterward to get me to vote for it.

Supervisor Shannon Price, Clerk Nancy Conzelman and Treasurer Ron Edwards all voted for the feasibility study, and Trustee Steve Mann, who is employed by a law firm that represents Salem Township, abstained.

The $60,000 feasibility study will be paid for by Salem Springs LLC, which is affiliated with the Schostak Brothers & Co., which plans to build the mixed-use development that includes 207 detached condominiums and 295 single-family homes.

The study doesn’t commit the township to providing water and sewer services, but Doroshewitz said the results could “make it too easy for them to put additional housing stock on the market” he worries would negatively affect residential property values in Plymouth Township, cause traffic congestion or reduce water pressure for Plymouth Township customers.

Curmi agreed with Doroshewitz, and said providing water and sewer services could have “major implications” in Plymouth Township.

However, Edwards said the township already provides those services to Canton Township and Livonia.

Price said a deal isn’t a “slam-dunk” and that the feasibility study is “just a first step, to give us the data.”

“We’re trying to look out for people,” he said.

The feasibility study will be completed in about 90 days.