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Service panel delays major borrowing, advances Eastside lift-station planning
Summary
The Service Committee advanced funding steps for an eastside lift station and scheduled further review of waterline borrowing after consultant V3 recommended waiting for final water-model results; the committee also reported an OEPA wastewater order and an approved EPA design loan for a regional lift station.
The Service Committee on Nov. 24 moved forward on planning for a regional eastside lift station while opting to delay larger waterline borrowing until consultant water-model results are complete.
Village Administrator Matthew Nihiser told the committee that V3 has finished mapping the village’s existing water system and is incorporating eastside development into the model. V3 recommended the village wait to submit a waterline-replacement loan until March 2026 ‘‘to avoid borrowing too soon for too little,’’ Nihiser said. That timing is intended to give staff and council time to review the modeling outcomes and the impacts of eastside development before finalizing a borrowing plan.
Nihiser also reported that V3 will bid test wells after the village secures an easement from an adjacent property owner; once test wells are in, the village plans to apply for a design loan for production wells and roll that into construction financing.
On wastewater, the village received a Proposed Director’s Final Findings and Orders (DFFO) from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency about its wastewater system. Nihiser said the village requested and received an extension to Nov. 28 to allow council and staff, including Solicitor Jeff Feyko, to prepare a response. The minutes record that Nihiser, Feyko and a staff member identified as Eli met repeatedly with V3 to craft a draft response.
The committee also heard that the village’s application for an EPA design loan for an East/Regional Lift Station has been approved and that V3 toured the southeast lift station and a proposed eastside site on Oct. 7. Separately, V3 is preparing to contract closed-circuit television (CCTV) inspection on the east side to identify sources of inflow and infiltration (I&I); the VA said OEPA views CCTV and targeted I&I work favorably in the DFFO process.
Staff reported other water-related items: V3’s work on water modeling is expected to yield a final report to council in two to three weeks; the village mailed more than 700 letters to residents who have not yet responded to the EPA-required service-line inventory; and V3 submitted a combined loan-and-grant application to the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) on Nov. 7 for the Elmwood/Jefferson waterline replacement and repaving project.
The committee unanimously forwarded Ordinance 2025-43, creating an OWDA Eastside Lift Station Fund and budget, to full council for consideration. Foreman sponsored the ordinance and Schaffner seconded; the committee voted 3-0 to send it to council.
The committee scheduled no vote on new borrowing at the meeting and set March 2026 as the recommended window for any waterline replacement loan submission pending V3’s final modeling results.
