Cookeville will expand sewer services on Ridgedale Drive after the Cookeville City Council approved an estimated $26,000 contract for sanitary sewer design.
Cookeville Water and Sewer Director Barry Turner said the project will extend sewer services to 23 parcels. Turner said several residents made requests for sewer services.
“Well, the ones that have some failing septic systems, they will be able to tie on,” Turner said. “Also, a lot of people want sanitary sewer service to be able to have that comfort level of you know, if something goes wrong, it’s probably on the city side as opposed to them having to repair their septic system.”
Turner said Ridgedale Drive is one of the oldest areas in Cookeville that has been annexed, but does not fully have sewer services. Turner said the expansion will consist of low pressure sewer system.
“When the terrain is up and down, you have the pump that you can pump it up because some of these houses are below the road, so you can’t get the sewer deep enough without it being a great cost to do that,” Turner said. “So low pressure, each house will have their pump and they can pump up to the main line in the street, which pumps it on up to a gravity sewer on downstream.”
Turner said the city has budgeted for the project in the upcoming fiscal year. Turner said that after the design is complete, the city will look at acquiring easements.
“During that design, we’ll look about trying to avoid existing utilities, so we may need some easements in a few places,” Turner said. “If they are needed, we’ll have to acquire the easements, then we will put together bid documents and advertise the project for bids.”
The Cookeville City Council approved the contract last Thursday during a council meeting.
