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Bexley board reviews competing sewer-study proposals, delays decision for council briefing
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Summary
The Bexley Board of Control discussed three proposals to update aging sewer system data on Feb. 5, saying the 2014 study is outdated and that staff will brief City Council before a procurement decision; no vote was taken.
The Bexley Board of Control met Feb. 5 to review competing proposals for a comprehensive sewer inflow-and-infiltration study and modeling update, and members said they would not vote on a contract at the meeting.
Board of Control member Matt McPeek said the discussion was intended to be informational and that staff is prepared to reopen the procurement if necessary: "We don't expect that we're gonna have a vote today," McPeek said. The board heard that the city first issued an RFP in May 2024 and has since received distinct proposals that vary in scope, methods and cost.
Why it matters: Board members and staff described the 2014 study the city currently relies on as incomplete or outdated and said recent wet-weather basement backups in 2020 and continuing fieldwork justify a new, more detailed analysis. Several members warned that the study could lead to large capital needs and policy choices for private-property repairs, and they asked that City Council be briefed on likely downstream budget and regulatory implications before the board makes a procurement decision.
Background and proposals: Staff said the Ohio EPA issued a Director's Findings of Fact and Orders (DFFO) in 2009 requiring communities to address inflow and infiltration (I&I) into sanitary sewers. The city later contracted EMH and T for a study finalized around 2014; board members said that study did not fully capture current field conditions, pointing to lining and repairs since then and to instances in March and May 2020 when unwanted water backed up into homes.
Three firms submitted proposals under the recent RFP. Staff summarized key differences: one bidder focuses primarily on desk-modeling and sampling of public infrastructure; a second relies more heavily on desk modeling with limited field testing and subs out some inspections; a third proposal emphasizes extensive field work — including manhole inspections, dye and smoke testing and sampling of private homes — to calibrate an iterative hydraulic model. Board members and staff described the more field-intensive approach as costlier because of equipment and labor in the field but said it produces a higher-confidence model that better identifies private-side sources of I&I.
Budget and timing concerns: Staff said prior estimates tied to the 2014 recommendations put repair needs in the tens of millions (a 2013-era estimate cited in discussion was about $28,000,000), and board members noted inflation and evolving scope could increase those totals. The sewer fund currently pays roughly the equivalent of $400,000 annually for improvements, staff said, while larger projects have been financed episodically with state programs (OPWC/OVWC) or by embedding sanitary upgrades in other public-works projects. Board members said a comprehensive study — estimated at roughly the range of the proposals discussed — is defensible as due diligence if the city must later approve multiyear capital programs, but they emphasized the need to explain likely follow-on costs to City Council.
Next steps and policy questions: The board left the item without a vote and asked staff to prepare a presentation for City Council (a target briefing was suggested for the Feb. 25 council meeting) and to hold preparatory briefings with council members Alex Silverman and others. Staff also said parts of the work (such as seasonal flow monitoring) could be released quickly so data collection can begin in spring. Board members asked procurement language and contract terms be written to limit the city's financial risk and to require transparent invoice detail or task-based payments so the city benefits if work is completed faster or with fewer hours than estimated.
Board members repeatedly highlighted that the study's outputs would not be an end in themselves: members expect the study to produce a 10-year prioritized capital plan and to inform capital-fee adjustments, financing options and potential private-property remediation programs. Several speakers stressed that the city must avoid "throwing good money after bad" by funding repairs without authoritative, up-to-date data.
Quotations drawn from the meeting reflect participants' stated positions and questions; no formal procurement vote was recorded at this session. The board agreed to continue the conversation after staff briefs City Council and after staff refines procurement and contract risk controls.
