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LEESBURG — The Leesburg Town Council meeting Monday, Sept. 14 was largely focused on addressing sewer concerns at the local school.
Dave Brinson, of Underground Engineered Systems, was invited to the meeting to share insight and possible solutions regarding ongoing challenges with the sewer system at Leesburg Elementary School.
Brinson said there are two issues. The first, he said, is education.
“I see it all over. Kids flush items down the toilet that the pumps can’t handle. Because it’s a low pressure system, the pumps are literally designed to not take on a sweatshirt. It’s not the first time I’ve seen it. It’s everywhere. You’ve got clothing that you’re finding in them. You’ve got wipes that you’re finding in them and pads and tampons. You’ve got to educate them. It’s ultimately ... the problem lies with the school and what’s being flushed down the toilets. And if you don’t get a handle on that, there is no 2 horsepower pump that can handle that.”
The school’s low pressure sewer system is not designed for a stronger hp pump, Brinson said, so a higher hp pump is not an option.
“The biggest issue you have is educating the kids or figuring out a way to get that to stop," Brinson said. "To get them to quit flushing (unflushable) things down the toilet."
There are solutions, Brinson said, though all of them come with a hefty price tag.
One option is installing a sewer system trash basket, which is a container installed inside catch basins to trap rags and large debris before they can clog or damage downstream pipes and pumps.
This option is labor intensive, as the basket has to be emptied each day.
“For under 10k, it might give you an idea of what’s being flushed down there, so you can pull it out and say ‘here it is — the school is going to have to start paying for this because we can’t process this.’ It’s a cheap way to do it, but it’s labor intensive,” Brinson said.
Another option is a step system, which involves a 1,500-gallon tank with three cavities. The first cavity catches large items, the second cavity catches medium sized items and the third cavity is fluid.
“That’s going to involve an excavator, a 1,500-gallon tank and it’s a fairly large solution,” Brinson said.
Another possibility is using variable frequency drives, which can be placed on pumps to regulate pump speed and are able to be programmed so that the pumps stop once they feel resistance.
Brinson added that he did not know if VFDs would solve the problem.
“It’s still going to be an issue. It’s gonna make it easier, but it’s going to be an issue.”
He also said VFDs are “rather costly.”
The final option Brinson mentioned is the Muffin Monster, a heavy-duty industrial sewage grinder that shreds solid waste in wastewater systems to prevent pump clogs.
“That’s an expensive proposition,” Brinson said. “It’s about a $40,000 item and then you've got to put it somewhere in line with the pipe that’s being emptied from the school.”
“There are solutions, but nothing is cheap,” Brinson said.
He said the town made a great decision by switching from E/One pumps at the school to Barnes pumps, which operate at a higher efficiency.
“You did the right thing there,” Brinson said.
“In simple terms, each one of those pumps in the pit can pump 40 gallons a minute, so when they both are running, obviously that’s 80, but the discharge line leaving the pit can only handle 60,” Leesburg Councilman Tom Moore said. “That’s where we’re at. It was not the best design from the onset, but we didn’t know about it then. We know about it now.”
“You’re not the only one in this situation. I see this so often it’s crazy. It started with E/Ones trying to put their residential grinders in a commercial application like the schools," Brinson said. "So you had an architect come out here and say ‘this is a great solution because this is what we do’ and it doesn’t work. I’ve retrofitted so many of those.”
Brinson said upgrading from Barnes pumps to Franklin pumps would likely help even further.
In addition to the problem with unflushable items being flushed down the toilets, Brinson said, there is a second issue.
“You’ve got a basin issue, too, unfortunately. There are safety risks that are fairly numerous,” Brinson said. “You want to mitigate the potential for an issue.”
Brinson recommended installing a stainless steel guide rail system so that someone outside the pump could pull up the pump without getting down into the basin. He also suggested replacing rubber hoses with rigid stainless steel piping and switching out the current check valves with heavy duty commercial check valves that can be serviced from the surface.
Moore provided a recap of the hours and expense accumulated addressing sewer pump issues at Leesburg Elementary just since school started last month and said the grand total is just shy of $10,000.
Moore said recently there was a major issue at the school when both pumps locked up and quit working.
The town had no replacement Barnes pumps available at the time. They had several replacement E/One pumps, but there is no adaptor to go between the two.
Moore said fortunately an employee from Astbury was able to find a temporary solution while the pumps were repaired.
Moore and Brinson plan to meet with Warsaw Community Schools Director of Maintenance and Grounds Jason Ellinger to discuss potential solutions for the issues at Leesburg Elementary.
Moore said it appears from the language in the town’s sewer ordinance that the town has the right to receive compensation for the cost of the sewer repairs at the school.
The question now, Moore said, is whether or not the town should pursue reimbursement from the Warsaw Community School Corporation. He asked Leesburg Council President Christina Archer and Leesburg Vice President Mitch Rader for their input.
Both Archer and Rader were in agreement with pursuing reimbursement from the school corporation.
Rader said the town has been covering the expense of these repairs for years.
“Originally when the system was put in there, at the expense of the school, and whoever was giving them the recommendations they did, it’s not a system that is going to take care of what they have anyway,” Rader said. “So we’ve buried the expense of what they didn’t do in the first place. So I don’t have a problem with saying hey, listen, you’ve caused this and we think that we ought to be reimbursed for it.”
“How many times have we been down there and talked with the school about what a big problem this is and trying to get them to do whatever they can to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place,” Archer said. “If it was a residential customer, we would be charging according to our ordinances. And I really feel like they’re as much a customer of the town as any other customer is. And when we have continued difficulties with the same problem over and over again … I know kids will be kids, but at the same time, a part of me says just how much effort have they put into talking with the kids besides just putting up sign? I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s not fair to expect the town of Leesburg to keep bailing them out for a problem we didn’t cause in the first place. This was not our design. We’ve tried to help them any way we can. We’ve tried to find the best equipment available. We’ve tried several solutions that seemed like they would be improvements and we’ve put a lot of money in quite frankly.”
"I'm also going to say quite frankly there are a lot of children who have not been told by their parents how to take care of things and how to not trash the place," Archer added. "They don't do it at home and they don't do it at school either."
Attorney Nick Jacobs said the town does have a legal basis to pursue reimbursement from the school corporation.
Motions were approved to purchase a replacement Barnes pump in the amount of $6,720 as well as five E/One pumps to have on hand for backups.
In another matter, Michael Webb attended the meeting as a representative of the Leesburg Lions Club. Webb broached the idea of a project involving putting up tribute banners in town honoring veterans and first responders. Tribute banners are custom street pole vinyl or canvas displays used by communities, families and organizations to honor local military service members and veterans.
Council members were in full support of the project.
Lastly, a public hearing for the 2027 budget was held at the end of the regular council meeting. Budget estimates for 2027 are as follows: Rainy Day Fund, $3,000; General Fund, $153,450; Local Income Tax, $15,000; Local Road & Street, $8,000; Motor Vehicle Highway, $130,600; Cumulative Capital, $3,000; total, $313,050.
Other news:
The curb project on the west side of Jefferson Street is halfway done. Street Commissioner Craig Charlton said the second half of the project is expected to be done this week, weather permitting.
A motion was approved to apply for a Community Crossings Grant in the amount of $36,000 for a double layer of micro surfacing for School Street. The town’s portion of the project would be $7,320.
The next regular meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12.
