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City to cover missed sanitary‑engineer note payments; council appropriates $407,803.92
Summary
Lucas County’s sanitary engineer identified missed note payments for seven projects going back to 2020; Sylvania approved Ordinance 31‑2026 to appropriate $407,803.92 and will defer planned vehicle purchases to cover the payment.
City public service staff told council Feb. 2 that the Lucas County sanitary engineer discovered seven projects for which satellite communities were not invoiced for note payments; invoices go back as far as 2020. The county official provided project lists and payment amounts; city staff worked with finance to identify offsets and proposed covering Sylvania’s share of approximately $407,803.92 by deferring purchases planned in the sewer budget (notably a jet truck and a plow truck).
Director Joe Shaw said the county representative was flexible on timing and staff are proposing to make the note payment in full while delaying equipment purchases planned in the 2026 budget. Council approved Ordinance 31‑2026 as an emergency measure to appropriate $407,803.92 for the city’s portion of the note payments. Shaw and finance staff said they will pursue better communication and more regular meetings with the sanitary engineer to avoid surprise large invoices in the future.
Why it matters: the one‑time catch‑up payment is sizable relative to the sewer budget and required deferring capital purchases; council and staff discussed rental or temporary alternatives if aging equipment fails before replacement.
