Commissioner Jeff Riddell outlines Lorain County sewer plan, denies zoning power shift amid megasite concerns

Mayor Scott Jones and the Village of South Amherst council on March 23 heard a detailed presentation from Lorain County Commissioner Jeff Riddell on county finances, a planned western‑county sewer expansion connected to a proposed megasite and the county's recent $67.4 million All‑Ohio Future Fund award.

Riddell said the county is operating on an austerity posture after voters rejected a sales‑tax renewal and that federal relief (ARPA) funds have ended. He told council that departments submitted funding requests that exceeded projected revenue, thirteen of sixteen elected officials accepted reductions and three objected; one objection has produced a pending lawsuit. He also addressed a recently resolved delayed Sheriff's Department lease payment as a budgetary timing issue.

The bulk of his presentation focused on infrastructure planning. Riddell described the sewer project as primarily an underground force main intended to provide long‑term regional capacity and to preserve options for future development. He said engineering determined a force main was necessary in parts of South Amherst because geological conditions — specifically a rock shelf — make a gravity sewer infeasible. "No individual residence will be…