As major phase of Bluffton sewer project closes, neighbors turn focus to cleanup
As Bluffton nears completion of a major phase of its project to install sewers in the Buck Island-Simmonsville neighborhood, area residents want the town to remind contractors to leave their yards in the same condition they found them.
A handful of neighbors brought their concerns to town staff Monday, asking that contractors not forget to clean up things such as toppled mailboxes, fallen tree branches and ditches full of standing water.
"When we have construction crews, sometimes they get busy trying to get to the next project and leave things a little unfinished," town councilman Fred Hamilton said. "It's our (job) to make sure they come back and fix things that property owners might find."
Jeff Wiggins, construction manager with the town's engineering department, told residents at Monday's Buck Island-Simmonsville Neighborhood Committee meeting that their concerns won't fall on deaf ears.
"I'll be glad to come and meet with you and make sure we get it right," he said.
The project, which the town has pumped roughly $2 million into in the past four years, aims to remove aging -- and sometimes cracked and failing -- septic tanks and connect the neighborhood to the public sewer system.
"First of all, (failing septic tanks are) a health concern," Hamilton said. "So we are trying to improve the quality of life throughout the neighborhood. And it's another way to make sure we don't pollute the May River."
The town is in the third phase of the project, which Wiggins said he expects to wrap up by the end of March.
By then, about two-thirds of the roughly 240 residences that qualify for the project will have sewer connections.
The remaining two phases -- centering on the communities to the east and west of Bluffton Middle School, as well as near the intersection of Buck Island and May River roads -- are on pace to be completed by the spring of 2017, Wiggins said.
Follow reporter Lucas High on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Lucas.
Related content:
- Buck Island Road residents to get new sewer connections soon, March 21, 2015
This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 8:11 PM with the headline "As major phase of Bluffton sewer project closes, neighbors turn focus to cleanup."