Commissioners adopt $65 monthly user charge, OK WPCLF financing and conditionally approve DLZ contract for New Marshfield sewer project

The Athens County Board of Commissioners voted Dec. 2 to establish sewer use regulations and a base monthly user charge of $65 per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) for the New Marshfield service area and moved forward with state loan financing for a New Marshfield sanitary sewer regionalization project.

Resolution No. 122-122 sets the base user charge to provide funds for debt service, operation, maintenance and replacement of the collection system. The resolution passed unanimously.

Meeting records and project exhibits list a total project cost of about $5,759,985, with construction costs of roughly $4.93 million, engineering services estimated at $350,000 and contingency line items. The Ohio EPA / OWDA WPCLF exhibit included a WPCLF loan principal amount of $1,459,985 at a 0.0% interest rate with a 45-year term and a reported principal forgiveness amount of $3,750,000. The record lists an estimated semi-annual payment computation and a participation rate used for repayments; the project schedule lists initiation of operation on Feb. 1, 2027 and a performance-certification date one year later.

The board also gave conditional approval to DLZ's construction-phase contract for construction-phase engineering and observation, authorizing Commissioner Eliason to sign after the county prosecutor confirms required corrections related to ownership of work product and other standard contract terms.

Commissioners and staff described the project as a regionalization effort intended to replace failing individual septic systems with a centralized sewer collection system to address public-health and environmental risks in New Marshfield. Next procedural steps include final prosecutor review of the DLZ contract, execution of WPCLF documents, and subsequent construction procurement and observation phases according to the approved schedule.