Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fairport Harbor discusses $1.1M–$1.5M options for a second water feed, consultant recommends directional drill
Summary
Council heard engineers and consultants describe two options for a secondary water connection — a $1.5 million bridge-mounted line or a roughly $1.1 million horizontal directional drill — and discussed $929,000 in grant funding, EPA guidance, and timing for design and rate-study implications.
Mayor opened discussion on the village's need for a secondary water feed as engineers and consultants outlined options to add redundancy to a single existing connection from Painesville.
Engineer Alan told council the village has identified a single master meter connection from Painesville and that loss of that line would leave the system without supply once storage is exhausted. He said the village is pursuing grant and loan funding and expects an OPWC design step at the next meeting. "We're going to develop a full comprehensive GIS of both the sanitary, storm and water," Alan said, describing an asset inventory to support a long-term capital plan and targeted grant applications.
A consultant identified as Bob presented two construction approaches to create a second feed: hanging a water main on a separate bridge structure (rough order-of-magnitude cost about $1,500,000) or horizontal directional drilling (HDD) under the Grand River using high-density polyethylene pipe (rough order-of-magnitude about $1,100,000). "We recommend the horizontal directional drilling," Bob said, citing fewer joints and lower cost. He added HDD would reduce leak risk compared with an exposed, hung line.
Administrator Lucas Darling noted the village has applied for and secured roughly $929,000 in grant funding from the David Joyce program toward the project and that an EPA water-system conditions assessment grant of about $20,000 would support an updated asset plan. Council members pressed whether a second connection is a regulatory requirement. The mayor said he understood the EPA requires redundancy; Bob and Alan said they would confirm the exact statutory or regulatory citations and provide documentation. "I will get clarification on that, and we'll get you the information of where it is in the Ohio Revised Code or the EPA requirement codes," Bob said.
Council discussed rate and debt implications if the village moves forward, noting the system serves a small customer base and that borrowing would increase ratepayer costs. The consultant and engineer emphasized that redundancy improves system reliability and that HDD was likely to produce the lowest lifecycle risk and cost. The administration said a formal recommendation and design-cost estimate will be presented at a subsequent meeting to inform the rate-study budget.
The council did not take formal action on the secondary feed during this meeting; members asked for the regulatory citation and a final recommendation to be returned in short order.
