Bettsville council adopts $5 monthly capital charge for water and moves to shore up vulnerable wells

The Bettsville Village Council voted to adopt Ordinance 20252, levying an additional $5 per month per household as a capital service charge on water and sewer bills to fund engineering and long-term upgrades, the council said. The measure passed on a roll-call vote and will be added to the next billing cycle.

Public works staff described short-term compliance steps after a recent Ohio EPA survey and warned the village faces longer-term vulnerability if a well is lost. John (staff member) said the survey flagged two items — valve-exercising frequency and how chlorine is transferred into the system — that staff will correct within the agency-specified response window. He told council the remediation work to address the survey items is relatively small and can be handled within weeks and modest expense.

But staff emphasized a larger concern: nearby quarrying and deep drilling activity could disrupt groundwater and the village’s wells. "We need to have a primary answer within 30 days," John said, describing county and engineering coordination to identify immediate contingency steps and a longer-term secondary source if the water field is compromised. He outlined options that could include interconnections with neighboring systems, additional storage, or new source development, and warned those options could be costly.

The council also reviewed a planned meter-replacement program tied to the capital plan. Installers will notify residents by mail and schedule appointments; the village put $100,000 down and anticipates financing up to $80,000 to cover the roughly $176,000 program estimate. Staff said meters will be installed at no direct cost to homeowners unless exterior shutoff valves are nonfunctional, in which case homeowners may face repair charges to enable meter swaps.

Council members said the new capital charge is intended to create a dedicated fund for engineering and future capital work rather than general operations. The ordinance text specifies the funds are restricted to capital improvements for water distribution, meter systems and related engineering studies. The council conducted a roll-call vote adopting Ordinance 20252; the clerk confirmed the charge will appear on the next billing cycle. The meeting did not identify a calendar date for the charge to take effect beyond that guidance.

Next steps: staff will file the required responses to the Ohio EPA recommendations, complete engineering assessments of secondary-supply options with county coordination, and begin resident outreach about meter installs and scheduling.