Rochester Hills Leaders Seek Answers to Residents' Concerns About Water Reservoirs

Urging citizens to "stay engaged," Rochester Hills leaders assured a room full of concerned residents that the City Council is actively and systematically seeking answers to all their questions about a proposal to build two 3 million-gallon water reservoirs behind .

About 20 residents who attended the  meeting Monday spoke passionately against the reservoirs, even though the issue was not part of the agenda. Most of the residents who spoke live in homes near the possible site; some spoke about fears that their property values would decline and that the reservoirs would be loud and unattractive.

The standing-room-only crowd applauded after each speaker. 

"What it comes down to, in the end, is that we don't know how much it's going to cost," said Shawn Cooper, a leader of the group ROAR (Residents Opposing All Reservoirs), which last week launched a website and online petition against the reservoirs.

"Is the City Council going to prepare a detailed business case prior to moving forward?" Cooper asked.

To that question — and many others — city leaders responded.

Mayor Bryan Barnett described the city's information-gathering on the water reservoirs as an "all hands on deck" project, and he said there would be more complete answers on the costs, the potential savings and the design by mid-January.

"We have not been sitting idle," Barnett said. "If we find that the business case makes sense, we'll move forward. If it doesn't, we won't."

Council members approved a design contract in June for the reservoirs, which Rochester Hills would use to store water purchased from the city of Detroit during nonpeak water delivery hours. The idea assumes an overall cost savings for residents: buy the water from Detroit at a less-expensive, off-peak price and pump it to residents during the more expensive, peak hours.

But city leaders admit they are unsure of what those cost savings would be. They are also unsure of the noise the water reservoirs would emit, although Barnett said they would "pump during the day, not during the night."

Council members are seeking answers to those questions and also are trying to address concerns about property values near the water reservoir site by talking to other communities in southeast Michigan that have built similar projects in residential areas.

To Barnett, the water reservoirs are an attempt to solve a common complaint by residents. "People here don't complain about their taxes," he said. "They complain about their water bills."

Council member Ravi Yalamanchi said he was opposed to water reservoirs in any residential neighborhood.

"I think the message is clear: Regardless of the business case, we should not place any reservoirs anywhere near any residential neighborhood," Yalamanchi said.

Council member Vern Pixley said he thought the water reservoir as a concept was a good idea. "But I certainly have many questions all of you have," he said. "Your continued engagement is important to all of us."

Resident Erin Howlett spoke in opposition to the reservoirs being used as a solution to fight soaring water rates.

"There is a trend nationwide toward conservation," Howlett said. "Why quit so easily on the conservation efforts?

"I feel like you're giving us a late-model Buick solution when we need a Chevy Volt solution."