Holmes Commissioners mull wastewater, sewer upgrades
Wastewater and sewage are a key element in any thriving community, and as Holmes County’s pocket of smaller towns continues to grow and thrive, the need to enhance the capabilities of wastewater and sewage plants grows as well.
Wastewater and sewage are a key element in any thriving community, and as Holmes County’s pocket of smaller towns continues to grow and thrive, the need to enhance the capabilities of wastewater and sewage plants grows as well.
With federal funds becoming available, the commissioners turned their attention to improving the systems in both Winesburg and Berlin.
On Monday, April 5, the Holmes County commissioners met with Holmes County engineer Chris Young to discuss prioritizing where the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funding would be best utilized.
With a growing amount of financial debt being accrued through water and sewer, the answer quickly focused on those two priorities.
In mid-March the Holmes County commissioners announced Holmes County is expected to receive approximately $8.5 million in federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Commissioner Joe Miller said this infrastructure is funded by user fees and hook-up fees, not through the county general fund and tax revenue. Miller said facility upgrades traditionally increase rates, but making these improvements with ARP funding would keep user rates low.
“We owe a lot of money in that department,” Miller said. “This is completely separate from tax money and the general fund. This is totally run by user fees and hook-up fees, but we are just treading water right now.”
Young said by increasing the capacity at these two plants, it would alleviate the need to increase user rates among all users.
“We are trying to keep the rates down as much as possible,” Young said.
Commissioner Rob Ault said by using the ARP Act funds, the county will not have to borrow even more money to complete these necessary alterations in the plants.
“We are right at the point where we would have to raise rates, but these funds will allow us to make the changes without doing that,” Ault said.
Passed in early March by the U.S. Senate, ARP will fund projects such as community assistance, workforce programs, and infrastructure projects including water, sewer and broadband service improvements.
Young provided the commissioners with a rough estimate of each project, $3 million for Berlin and $4 million for Winesburg, noting Winesburg is the more “shovel ready” of the two possible projects.
The Winesburg project would upgrade the wastewater treatment plant and improve lines while the Berlin project would increase plant capacity.
Currently at 300,000-gallon capacity, the Berlin plant is nearing a level of usage that would prompt the Environmental Protection Agency to mandate an increase in capacity. In addition, Young said the county is surveying a copper issue that has arisen through the plant.
Young said review of the project would likely indicate an increase to between 500,000 and 600,000 gallons.
“We are approaching 75% capacity, and we have a lot of new customers coming on to create even more potential in the future,” Young said. “It doesn’t have to start now, but we want to start now so we can put on a time line to fix the copper problem while at the same time we are trying to increase the gallons in the plant.”
Commissioner chairman Ault said these two projects have been considered the past six or seven years, as a proactive response to ongoing community growth, and ARP funding presents an opportunity to move forward with these improvements without increasing debt.
“We have come a long way since 2009 with some of these wastewater plants,” Ault said. “We were actually in court during that time with the EPA. This need is real because things around Berlin are exploding all over in terms of growth.”
The Berlin plant was initially built in 1990, and Young said a plant that old is going to have a need for upgrades and additional capabilities.
“We’ve had to fabricate our own parts because they don’t make them anymore,” Young said.
The commissioners said they have been working on the Winesburg project for several years, and Berlin is not far behind. Young said the new upgrades will last for decades.