Approximately 130 Devola residents turned out Monday night for the first public meeting to discuss the long-awaited sewer project.

Residents were given the chance to ask questions about the project from Howard Wood and Naiel Hussein of the engineering firm WSP USA, construction attorney Sean Lehman of the law firm Bricker and Eckler, Washington County Prosecutor Nicole Coil, Washington County Engineer Roger Wright, as well as Washington County commissioners,

Commission President David White said the wastewater project has been a very contentious, hot button issue in the community for several years.

It will affect everyone from Ohio 60 to Masonic Park Road, to Magnum Magnetics to the Devola Volunteer Fire Department, along Devols Dam Road down to the River Road, per the court order from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. It does not include River Road or the fire house.

“It has been been a long and arduous undertaking,” he said. “I want to make it clear this evening that this project is moving forward. As many of you know, we are under court order and it would be irresponsible in the extreme to risk court imposed penalties by further delaying. I’ll say it again for those who may be harboring the delusion that the sewer in Devola can be prevented, it cannot.”

He added this would be the first of many meetings to discuss the project. The next meeting will be scheduled for January.

Wood explained the engineering firm was hired to establish goals for the project that were developed by the commissioners.

“In the spirit of transparency, looking at the old process and we have ballparked the cost of the Devola sewer between $15 million and $20 million,” he said. “That’s the first fact that has to be put on the table and then we go from there.”

He added the four goals set by the commissioners were to minimize the capital costs, reuse previous engineering work that has been done to the greatest extent possible, minimize property impact and inconvenience, and to obtain grants and loans to reduce the effects on the homeowners.

In response to Richard Hanf’s question about the timeline of the project, Hussein said they were at the very beginning of the project. He said the design of the project will take about a year. There will be right of way acquisitions, and then his rough estimate of the construction time was two years and three months.

Hussein said during January’s meeting, they will have better estimates, as they haven’t even met with the Ohio EPA yet.

Muskingum Township Trustee Ken Schilling said he hoped the stress on the infrastructure of the town would be minimized as the heavy equipment rumbles down the roads.

Hussein replied that their intent is to go behind houses as much as possible to minimize impact on the streets.

Tom Alberts questioned whether Devola residents would have any input on where the sewer pipes would be buried.

“You said you’d have another meeting like this one where you’d show the people where all the pipes were run, all the minor and major ones, is that going to be ‘here it is, no questions asked, you got it’ or is there going to be a little give and take?” he asked.

Hussein said residents would have a chance to give their input during the January meeting.

“I don’t want to lose this tree or I have a shed back here, can you go this way or that way,” he explained. “That’s what the January meeting is supposed to be addressing.”

Alberts also asked if imminent domain was on or off the table if someone doesn’t want them to dig through their yard.

“The bottom line is that it’s got to be done,” Hussein said before asking Nicole Coil to respond.

She explained that it is a power the county has, but it is not their intent to plan to use it and it’s not what they are planning to do in the future.

“It’s a last resort kind of thing,” Alberts asked.

“Absolutely,” Coil replied.

Many of the questions had to do with costs per household and how the costs would be paid.

“We don’t know yet at this point,” Hussein said. “How we address the cost and how to pay for it, that’s the plan we’re going to have to come up with.”

Commissioner Ron Feathers said the property owners would have to have their septic tanks pumped out and the cost when it was asked seven years ago was around $250. Once the tank is empty, a hole will have to be punched in the tank lid and the tank will need to be filled with sand or gravel.

He said the preliminary capacity fee for the general public in Devola per household is estimated to be $300-$400 per year for the next 30 years.

“What is that going to look like? It looks like the new capacity fees are going to be $10,000 to $15,000,” he said. “I cannot illustrate this enough that we knew this a long time ago. That’s why we were fighting. This thing is not going to be pretty. This thing is going to be destructive. It’s going to cost a lot of money and it’s going to be financially devastating to a lot of families.”

He said they are turning over every stone to find financial relief for the residents.

Feathers noted that the county was only ordered to pay for the sewer network through town and for the laterals to go to the property line for each homeowner. It was up to the homeowner to attach the sewer line to their homes.

“It’s outside the scope of the county,” he said. He noted that when the project was done, letters would be sent out to Devola homeowners to let them know their deadline for getting connected to the system.

He added the $300-$400 per year would pay for the loans that would need to be taken out for the project.

“Think of it as another levy on your property,” Feathers said.

Each homeowner in the county who is on the sewer system currently pays $70 per month into the enterprise fund for their sewer bill.

“When Devola goes hot, all the people who are currently on the sewer now, you will not have an additional assessment,” he said. “You already paid for your upgrade years ago. However, you will share the cost of the monthly billing. The best estimate we could come up with right now will probably increase by $40 per month.”