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Maumee council approves two OPWC applications and ordinance to enter Ohio EPA consent decree
Summary
At a special meeting Aug. 11, the Maumee City Council voted to authorize two Ohio Public Works Commission grant applications for sewer projects and approved an ordinance to enter a consent decree with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; each measure was adopted by roll call and emergency declarations were approved to expedite processing.
Maumee City Council on Aug. 11 approved three measures to expedite sanitary-sewer work and regulatory compliance, voting to authorize grant applications to the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) for two projects and adopting an ordinance to enter a consent decree with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Council approved Resolution 20-2025 authorizing the mayor to prepare and submit an OPWC application for the East End sanitary sewer rehabilitation project and Resolution 21-2025 to apply for OPWC funds for Phase 5 of the Uptown Sanitary Sewer Project. The council also adopted Ordinance 20-2025, which authorizes the mayor, city administrator and law director to enter into a consent decree with the Ohio EPA and state of Ohio and to authorize funding for sewer-lateral remediation, replacement and repair and related corrective work.
The measures were advanced under emergency procedures. Council moved to suspend the rules and declare emergencies for the resolutions and the ordinance so the city could apply for funds and proceed with required court and EPA processes without delay.
City officials said the OPWC applications allow Maumee to seek state capital-improvement and local-transportation-improvement funding to accelerate identified sewer rehabilitation work. Mayor James McDonald read the resolution language into the record when the council considered the first OPWC application. During the ordinance discussion, city staff described negotiations with the Ohio Attorney General's office and EPA; staff said the consent decree text requires the city to follow an SSES (sanitary sewer evaluation study) program and that payments for private lateral repairs would not be made until the judge signs the decree after the required public comment period.
All measures were adopted by roll call vote. The council recorded unanimous affirmative roll-call votes on the two OPWC resolutions and the EPA consent-decree ordinance during the special meeting.
The ordinance includes provisions authorizing funding for sewer-lateral remediation and certain pump corrections or installations and requires a public comment period before final judicial approval; officials said no payments for private-lateral work would be made until the judge signs the consent decree after that period.
Background: The OPWC programs fund capital and transportation improvements at the local level. The consent-decree ordinance is intended to resolve state-level enforcement related to Maumee's sanitary-sewer system and set the city on a defined compliance path with EPA oversight.
Council adjourned the special meeting after approving the items.
