Washington County commissioners and county sanitary engineer John Grosse must wait for the OK from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Ohio Department of Development before proceeding with the Riverview subdivision sewer project, which will take refuse from the subdivision in the Barlow-Vincent/Little Hocking area to the Belpre wastewater treatment plant.

"The Corps of Engineers had to do an environmental review of the site. They're looking for stream crossings and wetlands that might create problems," said Grosse. "The verbal indication is that there would be no problem, but we're awaiting the written release from them."

Due to the delay, Kokosing Construction Company Inc. and Larry Lang Excavating have approved extensions on the bids they submitted for the project. Grosse said that while no contracts have been awarded yet, these were the two lowest bidders.

"They both have consented to holding bids for 60 days, but hopefully we won't need that much time," he said.

Commissioner Cora Marshall explained that the extension on the bids is necessary to ensure that they do not change while the county is awaiting word from the Corps of Engineers.

"The estimate is good for 60 days, and we're asking for 60 additional days for them to hold to that bid," she said.

About $800,000 in federal stimulus funds and loans will pay for the project, which Marshall and Grosse said should be completed by July 2010.

Marshall has said once the project is completed, about 150 customers who live in the Riverview area will benefit from it.