The Goodrich City Council met in the community center Thursday to discuss sewer lines, roads, taxes and more at their monthly assembly for September.
Representatives from Goodrich First Baptist Church were given time to speak with the council regarding sewer and road issues.
Former council member Nita Gokey spoke on behalf of the church to explain the sewer issues they have experienced. She said the city installed the water and sewer system at the church in the late 1980s.
“The church has been using this system since the late ‘80s,” she said. “The church has never had any problem with their sewer, except maybe once every five or 10 years, some kid would stuff too much paper down it, but it really didn’t overflow. It just stopped it up a little bit.
“They’ve never had anything that overflowed. Well, then comes the RV park and it’s my understanding that the engineers looked at that, the city’s engineers looked at it, and told them what they would need to do for that to work. But, I don’t think that the engineers’ plans were followed.”
Gokey said with the RV park tying into the line and the church being lowest structure on the line, it has caused the sewer to back into the church on several occasions.
The city placed a lift station nearby, but Gokey said that has not corrected the issue.
“They put this lift station in here. That has not solved the problems. That has made it worse, because now you’ve got a lift station here that’s pushing it up and then pushing it into the church.
“The church is only used on Sunday and Wednesday night. When they go in on Sundays and they walk in there, they have overflowed toilets and on Wednesday night they have overflowed toilets. The city’s looked at this and told us on several occasions it’s been taken care of, but it has not been taken care of, and we’ve called.”
The church is said to have hired a plumber with a camera system, which showed the lines to be without blockage.
“So, it’s not the church. It’s this RV park. There’s been log trucks going back there and parking and everything, and I think it’s pushed this road down.
“This is about the seventh or eighth time that we have contacted the city about this and every time it’s supposedly taken care of, but it has not been taken care of, and to tell you the truth, the church is tired of it.”
The church has 10 toilets that representatives said were close to overflowing Tuesday.
“Please don’t let our very historic church get ruined, because if all of those toilets do that at one time, in the end, there’s going to be no going back from that,” another representative said. “It’s going to seep up in the walls and there’s carpet. And, there’ll be no longer a historic church because everything will have to be torn out.”
Insurance would likely not cover the expense of rising water, according to Gokey, who then said if the issue is not fixed, the church’s attorney would file a suit against the city.
“Now, we don’t want that. It costs us money, it costs y’all money, and y’all can fix it without all that.”
Gokey also felt the roads leading to the RV park were never designed for heavy traffic. She said loaded log trucks have been parking in the park at night. She told council the road repairs should not be the city’s responsibility, that instead the RV park should absorb the costs.
The park plans to have additional hookups, totaling 100 when complete.
The city’s tax rate has dropped a bit from marks in 2025. The 2025 rate of .2994 will now be at .2936. Maintenance and operations are up from .1493 to .1500, but interest and sinking is down from .1501 to .1436.
The city once again will hold a Halloween celebration, handing out candy to area children. Last year, 126 children attended the drive through. Halloween is on a Saturday this year, and the event will be held on that date at 6 p.m.
