The sewer bills of some in the Barlow area will increase as a result of a sewer system there being connected with Washington County's system.
The Washington County Commissioners signed a document Thursday which allows for sewage from White Oak Sewer Association customers to be sent into the county's system.
Commissioner Cora Marshall said Jean Yost, president of the association, wants the association's customers to be tied in to the county's system by Jan. 1.
"There are between 50 to 60 new customers that the county will be picking up," she said. "They will be charged $56 a month like all of our other customers."
Yost said the majority of the customers that will be tied in are residential and they are currently paying $35 a month for service.
Marshall said the customers will be tied in at an existing lift station at the Barlow Fairgrounds.
"And it will be Jean's responsibility to eliminate the old wastewater plant that he has there, not at a cost to the county," she said. "As far as the tie-in, it's no cost to the taxpayers or the sewer district itself - he's funding all of that."
Yost said there is some work to be done before the customers can be tied in.
"The next step is we have to install a tie-in of about 40 feet of line between their manhole and our manhole and we hope to have it all completed by the end of the year," he said.
Yost said that when the White Oak Sewer Association got a permit to operate in 1987, it stated that when the county built its system, the White Oak system should be shut down.
County sanitary engineer John Grosse said the Ohio EPA has identified the White Oak area as a "problem area" in terms of its sewer system.
"They've had some problems with the wastewater plant and they felt it was better if the county takes care of the system and gets rid of the wastewater plant discharge altogether," Grosse said.
The commissioners also took up another sewer related matter during their meeting Thursday.
Marshall said there are a few property owners in Devola who had received a letter from the county requesting that they tie in within 90 days to the new sewer line that is being installed in that area, but due to wet weather and not being able to line up a contractor yet, the property owners asked that they be given until the end of February to tie in.
The commissioners approved the requests.
The commissioners' clerk, Rick Peoples, said three property owners received letters and two of those had requested an extension. He said the property owners were sent the letters because they are within 200 feet of the new line and therefore they are required to tie in.
He said the cost to each property owner varies, based on who they get to do the work.
"They hire a contractor to do the work and they get the completed work inspected by the county - it has to be in accordance with regulations," Peoples said.
The new sanitary sewer line runs from near the wastewater treatment plant in Devola to the intersection of Colegate and Muskingum drives. The sewage is sent to the Marietta Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Also on Thursday, the commissioners signed a contract that allows youth from the county to be sent to the Multi-County Juvenile Detention Center in Lancaster as needed. According to the contract, the county will pay the district $90 per inmate, per day.
"It's an ongoing contract, not a first time arrangement," Peoples said.
