County engineers consider upsizing State Route 18 sewer line; estimate adds about $3 million to project
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Summary
Medina County sanitary engineers discussed increasing pipe size on the State Route 18 sewer project to add long-term capacity, a change that would raise the project cost from about $30 million to roughly $33 million and add an estimated $196,000 per year on a 20-year loan.
Medina County sanitary staff raised the possibility of upsizing the sewer line on State Route 18 to provide additional long-term capacity for future development, Sanitary Engineer Jeremy Cinco told commissioners during the Feb. 7 meeting.
“Is there any thought of wanting to upsize that sewer one more size with the intent of never having to go through a project like this again in the future,” Cinco said, describing early engineering estimates. He said upsizing would add about $3 million to the project and that on a 20-year loan the additional cost would be roughly $196,000 per year.
The current design is sized for about 66% of peak capacity, Cinco said. The base project cost without the upsize is approximately $30 million; with the upsize the figure discussed was about $33 million. The larger pipe sections discussed would move from roughly a 36-inch design to 42- to 48-inch pipe at midsections, which would substantially increase available capacity.
The presentation framed the trade-off as a near-term increase in borrowing against a potential saving on future construction and disruption: “You can do it right the first time,” one commissioner said during discussion, noting that earlier corridor work occurred in the 1990s and that the county previously participated in right-of-way purchases. County staff said the work would largely stay within the county right-of-way and that the upsize would remove a current restriction that limits new users by a gallons-per-linear-foot allocation tied to a 500-foot service corridor.
Commissioners and staff also discussed the project’s geography and limits. Cinco said topography and elevations mean the gravity sewer would not serve Granger Lakes directly, although water service extensions remained possible. The primary objective for the expansion, he said, is to enable commercial development along the Route 18 corridor between state Route 71 and Madonna Line Road.
No formal decision to upsize was recorded at the meeting; staff said they would continue work with the county’s engineer and bring more detailed numbers forward for consideration.
