Lake County utilities staff reported that a recent bid opening for a traveling screen at the Aquarius Raw Water Station returned a single bid that exceeded the engineer’s estimate and that staff will evaluate next steps before recommending a contract to the commissioners.

“We only had 1 bidder for this project, and it was, a little bit over the engineer's estimate,” Roethlisberger said during the departmental report. He said the traveling screens form the first part of the treatment process by blocking large floating material from entering the treatment plant and that staff will evaluate the lone bid over the next two weeks.

The utilities report also included updates on local construction and routine maintenance. Commissioner Beveridge commented that the Vine Street waterline and pavement work is open and smooth, noting a remaining punch list for striping and minor items.

Separately, commissioners raised long‑running odor complaints in the Woodhill Subdivision in Mentor. A commissioner asked for reassurance that the utilities department has addressed all possible county infrastructure causes; utilities staff said the county has inspected and repaired sewer lining, installed scent‑reducing blocks and performed regular inspections. Roethlisberger said the county has met with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for recommendations and is pursuing additional measures: “We're we're looking into that to see if that's gonna be effective. And then we're also going to start, we're gonna do some smoke testing out there over the next month or so.”

Roethlisberger described the scale of the county system and the unusual nature of the complaint: “We have about 550 miles of sanitary sewers throughout Lake County, and this is pretty unique to this area.” He said staff are exploring an odor‑blocking device that can be installed in a manhole and are open to “going outside of the box” to locate the source.

Commissioner Beveridge said he had visited the area, coordinated with local officials and encouraged clearing of storm catch basins to remove leaves and debris that could complicate investigation. Utilities staff emphasized that while many mitigation steps have been taken, staff will continue testing and inspections to identify a definitive source. No enforcement action or new contract was authorized during the meeting; staff indicated they will return with recommendations after further evaluation.