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County can’t ignore sewer issue any longer

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has moved to have the state Attorney General’s Office enforce findings and orders dealing with sewering Devola.

Meanwhile, the City of Marietta’s attorney has calculated the additional cost burden to Marietta sewer customers for the commissioners’ inaction at $16.1 million.

We’d now like to hear from our county commissioners how they are going to dig the county out of this mess.

What is the plan? If it eventually comes to pass that they must make a multi-million payment for refusing to comply with EPA orders and/or a contract with the city, where will they get this money? It’s way past time for our county officials to just stubbornly dig in, regardless of consequences. The other parties involved are not going to back off. The issues are not going to go away and the commissioners need to be in major problem-solving mode.

On Thursday, the commission approved an increase in county sewer rates, with some of that to go toward an anticipated 40-year, $73,125 annual payment to the city for expansion of the treatment plant. But that is a drop in the bucket as to what may be needed.

We realize that many residents of Devola and Oak Grove oppose the idea of being sewered and being served by the Marietta Wastewater Treatment Plant. And the commissioners may have sincerely believed they were acting in their constituents’ best interests by failing to complete the sewering project, but it’s created a predicament that may cost Washington County much more than we can afford. This predicament could easily turn into a crisis.

We think it’s time for the commissioners to realize they are going to have to move forward with this project–a project agreed to by the county, regardless of whether different elected officials filled those seats at the time. Getting more properties sewered will at least keep the cost burden to the city and its customers from ballooning further and perhaps show a more cooperative nature that might benefit the county as the complaints against it continue to play out.

Getting the county stuck in legal wrangling with the city and now with the Attorney General’s Office is not serving the residents well. It’s time the commissioners look at what’s best for its constituents as a whole before even greater damage is done.

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