FLUSHING -- The Flushing Township Board of Trustees voted against entering into a sewer agreement with the Genesee County Drain Commission during a Dec. 12 meeting and to eliminate the topic as a discussion item indefinitely.

Township Supervisor Frederick Thorsby said the agreement with the drain commission had been in the works for about two years. Thorsby added that Rowe Professional Services had also submitted a document outlining the township's intent to apply for money from the for Clean Water Revolving Fund in order to install the sewer system. The projected cost for the sewer project in Granich Heights and the Ponderosa subdivision would have cost between $10 to $12 million.

Thorsby said that when he and Rowe Professional Service planner Ryan Baird had a virtual meeting with representatives from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) earlier this month.

"Our project was fairly large, but their concern was that we would not qualify for funding because we don't have a low-income community," said Thorsby.

To clarify, project proposals like the one that was submitted to EGLE are evaluated based on specific criteria, and then the criteria are assigned a value.

"They are looking for an average household income of approximately $65,000 or less," said Thorsby. "Ours is more like $85,000 or less for our average."

Baird went through the process of testing the proposal against the EGLE criteria, and Thorsby said the sewer project scored 40 points out of 100.

"Last year, EGLE didn't fund any projects that came in under 60 points," said Thorsby. "So, the chances of us getting funding through that process is pretty low."

Bonding was discussed as a possible solution, but it comes with a higher interest rate and would push the cost of the project up, according to Thorsby.

He added that Baird had also determined that the price per parcel was over $40,000 to complete the project.

"I just felt that with the lack of funding through the state and interest rates, this was not a practical project to move forward with," said Thorsby.

Thorsby added that he learned a total of 64 homeowners living within the subdivision mentioned above, plus some residents on Apple Blossom Lane have had their septic systems replaced through a conversation with the Genesee County Health Department.

"I feel that's just too many homes that have made upgrades, I know that they would not be willing to take on a $40,000 project."