Engineers present draft wastewater facility plan to Johnstown council, propose municipal coalition to shape 208 boundaries

EMH&T engineers on Tuesday presented a draft wastewater facility plan they say would give a three‑community coalition greater control over wastewater service boundaries and phased infrastructure investments.

Mike Keller of EMH&T said the draft plan, submitted to the Ohio EPA on May 1, 2025, proposes an alternate 208 area wastewater management plan covering Johnstown, Alexandria and Granville. "This plan kind of builds upon the comprehensive plans that have been adopted by the various communities," Keller said, and is intended to show the state why the coalition should be considered an alternate designated management authority.

Justin Holder, also of EMH&T, explained the planning framework and technical terms for the council, noting that the state EPA has the authority to change 208 boundaries: "The facility plan demonstrates the feasibility and the rationale of revising the jurisdictional boundaries," Holder said. He added that the plan itself does not change service areas; it presents an alternative the state can adopt.

The presentation framed an "inside‑out" strategy that prioritizes expanding existing plants and sharing capacity among the coalition members rather than building new, centralized infrastructure immediately. EMH&T described a phased capacity path for Johnstown that could expand an existing treatment plant from 1.2 million gallons per day (MGD) to 2.4 MGD and, if needed, to about 4.8 MGD; interconnections between Alexandria and Granville would allow communities to leverage available capacity and provide redundancy.

On costs, EMH&T presented planning‑level estimates for the coalition as a whole: about $108 million in investments in the five‑year horizon (including near‑term plant expansions and sewer work), an additional roughly $64 million by year 10 to bring Johnstown to higher capacity and add interconnections, and about $155 million in longer‑term work associated with a potential new regional plant — a cumulative planning figure the presenters summarized at roughly $327 million over 20 years.

Keller told council that some near‑term work was already on municipal plans before the coalition effort and that the coalition approach can spread debt and leverage existing capacity: "A lot of the costs that we're talking about today are costs that the communities were already looking to spend," he said, and the coalition can provide flexibility to scale investment with actual growth.

EMH&T also compared its coalition plan to a Licking Regional Water District facility plan, noting different cost and density assumptions. The consultants said the coalition approach shows larger service area acreage with lower density assumptions while achieving similar ultimate flows into the regional system.

Councilmembers asked for details and exhibits; the presenters said the full draft report and exhibits are posted on the coalition website and that the city attorney and EMH&T will continue discussions with the Ohio EPA on the merits of the plan. Steve Samuels, the environmental attorney at the meeting, attended to advise on regulatory questions.

Next steps described to the council included additional technical work, follow‑up meetings with staff and the EPA, and potential future presentations as the coalition refines service projections, costs, tapping fees and rate assumptions. The presenters emphasized that later investments would scale to development: if the projected growth doesn't materialize, subsequent phases would not be necessary.

The council accepted the presentation and moved on to committee and director reports; no formal action adopting the plan or changing jurisdictional boundaries occurred at the meeting.