Erie County commissioners asked the Huron City Council on Oct. 28 to consider participating in an independent feasibility study into regionalizing water and sewer services across Erie County.

Commissioner Steve Shoffner, who identified himself as an Erie County commissioner, told the council the county is seeking “a baseline of the information” that would show current infrastructure, operations and potential future needs so officials can evaluate options. “My desire is to have a completely separate and new entity created to oversee the regionalized system,” Shoffner said, adding that the entity would “assume all current debt and all operations.”

Commissioner Shenago said the county has a long history of service partnerships with municipalities and emphasized the technical and site-specific challenges of any consolidation. “There’s not a one-size-fits-all,” he said, noting differences in source water and pipe sizes that make integration complex. He said the county expects municipal representation if a regional entity is created.

Council members asked detailed questions about where savings would materialize. Councilmember Hagee pressed the commissioners on whether savings would come from operations and staffing, chemicals, or avoided duplicative capital projects. Shoffner and Shenago pointed to potential operational efficiencies — for example, consolidating plant operators and avoiding redundant treatment or pumping stations — but emphasized that the numbers would depend on an engineering study.

Commissioners also argued regional collaboration can improve competitiveness for state or federal grants. Shoffner cited an example from other regional efforts and described a prior Route 6 grant the county obtained with municipal partners. On projected customer savings, council members asked where a Blue Ribbon readout figure—presented to the commission as a possible $1 to $540 annual saving per user—originated; commissioners said that estimate would need to be validated by an independent study and that they did not have a firm cost estimate for the study.

No formal commitment or funding request was made at the meeting. Commissioners said they were not asking Huron to write a check that night and that a study would first identify costs, benefits and governance options. They invited Huron staff and council members to provide data and participate as the county refines the study scope.

Why it matters: the study, if undertaken with municipal participation, could change how water and sewer services are structured, how capital projects are planned and how rates are set across multiple communities. The council did not reach a decision at the meeting and received the presentation for consideration and follow-up.