Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Regionalization Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board raises concerns about sewers outside Lorain, regionalization and revenue impacts
Summary
Board members warned that extending sewer service beyond city limits can create liabilities if the city does not retain ownership or inspection authority; Councilor Mary Smangalski urged proactive planning to leverage water capacity for economic development.
Board members and residents discussed plans and proposals to extend sewer and water infrastructure beyond the City of Lorain’s borders and flagged ownership, inspection and long-term capacity concerns.
Nut graf: Officials said sewers built outside the city can shift treatment costs and risks to Lorain if the city treats flow tied to lines it does not own or adequately inspect; some speakers urged city leadership to pursue water-sales opportunities selectively and to require ownership or inspection rights when allowing outside connections.
Pat recounted past examples in which sewers were extended outside Lorain under a developer agreement with the promise of annexation that did not occur. Pat said a county-built 30,000-foot sewer project tied to the airport was proposed to tie into Lorain’s system; he said the city successfully declined to accept the connection at that time and required a holding/treatment arrangement to protect Lorain residents.
Councilor Mary Smangalski, who said she represents Lorain at-large on council, urged a strategic approach to regional opportunities. “We need to jump on these things and take charge of this, because this is our future,” Smangalski said, urging the city to consider how commercial water sales to heavy users could help subsidize resident rates while protecting capacity for residents.
Board members emphasized inspection and fee collection. Pat said when out-of-city lines leak or allow extraneous flow, Lorain can end up treating the extra volume without receiving appropriate fees. The board discussed attaching tap and inspection fees to outside connections and ensuring meter-based billing where possible.
Members also discussed Joint Economic Development Agreements (JEDs) and cited a recent annexation and development outside the city that they said could affect long-term capacity and rate stability. No formal vote or agreement to change policy occurred at the meeting; members requested additional engineering review of any proposed outside connections and urged coordination with council before commitments were made.
Ending: The board asked staff to ensure any proposed sewer or water service outside the city comes with clear ownership, inspection and fee arrangements before connections are approved.
