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Etna Green weighs regionalizing sewer service as planning grants and federal funds are pursued
Summary
Council members discussed staging a regionalization project to tie Etna Green’s wastewater into Warsaw’s system, citing a roughly $6.5 million estimate to regionalize versus approximately $7 million to replace the local plant, and outlined next steps for planning grants and applications to state and federal funding sources.
Council members spent substantial time discussing water and wastewater planning, including a possible regionalization that town officials and consultants said would be cheaper than building a new sewer plant.
Chris (speaker 7), reporting on work with a consultant team, said the town will pursue an OPA planning grant for water and stormwater and is coordinating community project funding for wastewater while waiting on federal decisions. He said the town ranked 20th on the state revolving fund project priority list, an improvement officials saw as positive for future funding opportunities.
Chris warned that the project’s growing scope could make Etna Green ineligible for direct OPA funding if the town proceeds immediately with full regionalization, so staff plan to stage applications to align state SRF and community-project funding. He also said the next step would include petitioning Senator Young for federal funding (transcript reference: “CBS money”), to be coordinated with other funding sources.
Council discussed cost estimates: board members cited about $6.5 million to regionalize and tie into Warsaw’s system versus roughly $7 million to replace the town’s existing sewer plant. Council members characterized regionalization as a way to reduce long-term local maintenance and operational obligations, though officials noted lift stations and other infrastructure would remain for the town to maintain.
Olivia reminded the council that public hearings and council sign-offs will be required for grant applications, and recommended increasing the local match amount on applications where required to improve scoring; she said the town would not be committing more funds than in prior applications but that program-match formulas have changed.
No final action to commit construction funding was recorded; the discussion outlined planning steps, funding sequencing and public-hearing requirements to position the town for grants and SRF funding.
