Washington County Commissioners are now looking to find funding to pay to sewer Devola.
This follows a court decision at the end of last year enforcing Ohio Environmental Protection Agency orders to sewer the Muskingum Township suburban area and replace failing septic systems.
“But what was remarkably absent from the order from the court was a timeline, so we’re contracting with a legal team to work with the court on that timeline and requirements,” said Commissioner David White.
Commissioners’ Clerk Rick Peoples said the legal firm the commissioners contracted with is Bricker and Eckler, which while sporting an office in Marietta, also has offices elsewhere in Ohio, including Columbus.
“And they have an EPA expert that was a part of the (Ohio) Attorney General’s office at one time working on EPA issues, too,” explained White. “This is the largest sewer project the county has ever taken on and there are going to be more easements needed than we’ve ever had to acquire so our legal team will facilitate that and the request for qualifications from engineers and such.”
Peoples said the commissioners contracted with the firm for both sewer construction legal services and to also serve as bond counsel for the project.
“That was voted upon during the Dec. 20 meeting,” he continued, noting the separate votes were unanimous with the previous board of commissioners makeup including White, Ron Feathers and Rick Walters.
Taking Walters’ seat this year is Kevin Ritter, who will appear for his first commissioners’ regular business meeting Thursday at 9 a.m.
Meanwhile, White said funding discussions have been started, but with the partial federal government shutdown stretching through its second week, he said exact grant options are unclear.
“We’re on hold with the U.S. (Department of Agriculture),” he explained. “We’ve made initial contact and then there was the shutdown… But the court will be satisfied as our legal team works on a timeline and looks for our funding options.”
He said the commissioners are hoping to combine grants, low-interest loans and fees to pay for the project.
“But as of yet I don’t know how much we have to have until we have an engineering estimate for the work and the easements…we’re in the first stage to get that information,” White added.
Later steps of the project would include finding funding for sewer tie-ins to support residents of low- to moderate-incomes.
Jefferson County Commissioner Thomas Graham said his county is facing a similarly sized regional sewer project, spanning into Carroll County and replacing failing septic systems to serve approximately 400 residences.
“Any time you can get any kind of funding it’s a blessing,” said Graham. “(The USDA) was really helpful and friendly and the EPA was very helpful as well.”
In total, Jefferson County is estimating its project to cost around $10 million, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers providing a $1.7 million grant and the Department of Agriculture providing $3 million in grants and $3 million in loans.
“Of our $10 million project, 68.4 percent of it is covered by grants,” explained Michael Eroshevich, director of sanitary engineering for Jefferson County. “My suggestion would be to somehow get into first the SCEIG meeting so (Washington County) can present your project and goals. The big buzzwords right now are regionalization and cooperation.”
He said SCEIG, or the Ohio Small Communities Environmental Infrastructure Group, brings together funding agencies like the USDA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to one meeting.
“And then you go and talk about the project you have, so for us, we talked about the Amsterdam sewer project and how it’s covering an area that’s the largest unsewered area in our county and that it includes a village and another county,” explained Eroshevich. “We got the USDA on board and then others got involved because it’s also a low-to-moderate income area and very rural.”
He said securing funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was “very lucky” as well.
“They’re only allowed to contribute to local projects in Ohio and North Dakota, but now we have them contributing to this one and another sewer rehabilitation project we took on,” Eroshevech said. “And (Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program) has been phenomenal in helping us secure funding as well, so having both an RCAP representative and your county engineer at that meeting with SCEIG will be incredibly helpful.”
The Jefferson County commissioners also completed a grant application with the Appalachian Regional Commission for $250,000, an Ohio Public Works Commission grant application for $1.3 million and a $250,000 grant application through the Ohio Water Development Authority.
And Eroschevich noted that the remaining loans needed to cover the project are through the Ohio EPA’s Office of Financial Assistance Water Pollution Control Loan Fund Program.
This year, the Ohio EPA has released plans for funding in that program specifically for regional sewer projects including:
• Offering up to $36.1 million in principal forgiveness to communities to upgrade or connect failing household sewage treatment systems, to promote regionalization efforts, to correct combined sewer overflows and unsewered areas and to promote backup power facilities.
• Offering $50 million at a zero-percent interest rate to communities to address excessive nutrient discharges at wastewater treatment plants.
• Offering $50 million at a zero-percent interest rate to communities to promote regionalization of wastewater infrastructure.
• Allocating up to $15 million for Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program projects.
The agency also noted that all planning and design loans with five-year terms or less will be offered a zero-percent interest rate. Also, these loans can be nominated at any time during 2019 under an open nomination cycle.