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Council hears plan to phase West End sewer replacement; staff recommends committee review and grant applications
Summary
City engineering staff presented preliminary plans to replace aging sanitary sewer in the West End, recommended referring a Phase 1 to committee, and discussed pursuing CDBG and Ohio Public Works Commission funds while noting technical challenges and the need for significant grant support.
City engineering staff updated the Mount Vernon City Council on preliminary plans to replace portions of the West End sanitary sewer and recommended referring the project to a council committee to define a Phase 1 scope.
"My recommendation is to refer this to committee to make a decision on what is Phase 1," the staff presenter said, asking council members to assemble a committee and allow the city’s engineering team to return with recommended limits for the first construction phase.
Staff described the system as "extremely flat," with sections that pond and in one area actually spill due to negative slope. The presentation said work north of High Street is eligible for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, while sections south of High Street would need other sources such as Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) grants if that program is available. A staff member said federal CDBG rules restrict use to the area north of High Street.
Technical issues noted included manholes with interior steps that create short drops, old lateral taps and abandoned service taps, and a lift station that may need upsizing to serve additional east–west lines. Staff said replacing some lines will require larger-diameter pipe in roadways (which raises per-foot costs) while alley work north of High Street would be less expensive per foot.
Staff discussed monitoring and investigative work: they considered deploying flow monitors but said a three-month monitoring rental/purchase estimate from a vendor was about $50,000, with purchase quotes in the roughly $60,000 range. Staff recommended buying or budgeting for appropriate flow-monitoring equipment and using existing camera footage where available to locate laterals and abandoned taps.
Staff suggested targeting roughly $700,000 in OPWC grant funding for an initial phase and said applications would be due in the fall; they also noted a CDBG-related deadline of about Aug. 1 of the following year for related commitments. Staff said the project will require significant grant funding and additional design work, and that survey and camera data must be integrated into GIS to refine cost estimates.
The council did not take a formal vote on construction funding at the meeting; the staff recommendation was to refer the scope decision to a committee and return with a formal phase recommendation once design, camera footage, and grant application targets are refined.
The presentation also noted operational considerations for ongoing neighborhood activity, including coordinating work near the Farmers Exchange during harvest season.
