Greene County board authorizes engineering review of 90% wastewater-plant plans as federal earmark awaits Senate action

At a Greene County Regional Sewer District Board meeting, members voted to authorize Westler Engineering to review 90% construction plans for the new wastewater treatment plant after technical concerns were raised about how the plant would handle peak flows.

Board member Speaker 1, who attended the 90% completion meeting, told colleagues he was "very concerned that there's no incoming wet well," saying the design relies on routing all flows directly to the plant through a splitter box without on-site equalization. He described potential hydraulic-loading risks and recommended an outside engineering review before signing construction contracts or permitting paperwork.

Speaker 3 moved to authorize Westler Engineering to perform the plan review; Speaker 2 seconded the motion and the board approved the authorization by voice vote. Board members discussed a modest review fee, described in the meeting as likely under $2,000.

The board also received a congressional funding update. Speaker 5 said the U.S. House had passed a funding bill and it was on the Senate calendar; he recalled a House-sponsored earmark of about $2,000,000 associated with a local congressman and a proposed $15,000,000 item associated with Senator Young. "Now that includes dealing with Crane Village, so not 100% of that is attributable to construction of the wastewater treatment plant," Speaker 5 said, and the board noted that a detailed breakdown of how any federal funds would be distributed was not yet available.

Speaker 1 emphasized that an engineering review at the 90% stage offers an opportunity to identify maintenance and operational details—slope, drains, second outfalls and future expansions—before contracts are finalized. The board recorded the authorization to have Westler Engineering review the plans and asked staff to return with results and any recommended changes before executing construction contracts or signing permits.

The board’s next steps are to receive Westler’s review and to await firmer funding details from congressional appropriations; members repeatedly urged caution about signing construction contracts until technical concerns are addressed.