Walton Hills council advances budget amendments to cover reimbursable sewer and sidewalk work

Walton Hills council members on Sept. 2 authorized emergency budget amendments to advance-pay three capital projects the village says will be reimbursed by outside programs.

Village staff told the Committee of the Whole that the three items are either fully or largely reimbursable, so the advances should have no net long‑term cost to residents. The items are a proactive sanitary‑sewer study (dye testing, video inspection and flow metering), a storm‑sewer repair on Alexander Road, and property acquisitions for a Northfield Road sidewalk.

“All three of these items are 100% reimbursable to the village,” a staff member said, noting the sanitary‑sewer study was awarded a 75% grant through the NSD member community infrastructure program with the remaining 25% covered by Kyog County Sanitary Sewer Department. The speaker added the storm repair will be funded through NSD’s community cost‑share program and the sidewalk property acquisitions are expected to be 90% reimbursed by ODOT highway safety funding, with the remaining 10% coming from county ARPA funds already earmarked for the project.

Officials stressed timing uncertainty for reimbursements. Staff told council the village will submit reimbursement requests as soon as possible but that payback timing varies by funder and some payments might not arrive until after Jan. 1. Staff noted advance payments will show as a year‑end decrease on the village’s accounting reports even if reimbursements follow the next fiscal year; a $427,000 figure was mentioned as an example of an amount that could temporarily affect reported year‑end balances.

Council members asked for clarification on the sanitary study and the storm repair location; staff said the Alexander Road repair addresses a nonfunctioning storm sewer at the southwest corner of Alexander and Mlen that has caused backups for a nearby resident. On the Northfield Road sidewalk work, staff said ODOT will administer bidding and construction, and the project remains on track as a 2026 ODOT project.

The committee approved the budget amendments and related emergency ordinance language during the meeting. Staff emphasized that while the projects require up‑front village payment, the grant and cost‑share programs should reimburse the village for the costs once claims are processed.

Next steps: staff will continue to prepare reimbursement requests and proceed with procurement and property acquisitions as required by the respective funding programs.