Brighton Township has given approval for a church to be excluded from the city’s water service area and for a local water authority to provide water to said church.

Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church, located on Hacker Road in Brighton, has been serviced by a well, which recently tested positive for elevated levels of arsenic. The church resides in a footprint that requires they be provided with water from the City of Brighton through an agreement with Brighton Township. Despite the agreement, the parish never connected to city water.

Both municipalities have taken action allowing the church to exit the agreement in hopes of receiving water from MHOG, or the Marion, Howell Township, Oceola and Genoa Township Sewer and Water Authority. Brighton Township at its Monday meeting also approved an agreement with the city, church and MHOG allowing the water authority to service the church. MHOG’s board and member communities will need to take formal action to complete the switch.

Brighton Township Manager Brian Vick says excluding the church from the city’s water service area so they can move to a new provider is a more fiscally-responsible method.

The township has recent experience with running a water main from Grand River up Old US-23 to the Lake Trust Credit Union. Vick says that gave them an idea of a ballpark cost, which is approximately $2(m) million including a booster station. Vick says it’s hard to justify that expenditure when the church would only be paying in the neighborhood of $100,000 to connect. (DK)