The meeting was attended by all three members of the committee yesterday plus Zoning Administrator Rick Williams. Rick was sitting in for Village Administrator Jim Saracco. The meeting was opened by Committee Chairman Randy Allmon and turned over to fellow committee man Tony Cataldo.
Cataldo addressed three issues of concern to the village. Stating it was time to start looking forward and applying for grants for 2010 he advised there is $176,000 of Issue 2 money available for various sewage improvements. If awarded this grant it could be used for improvements for various sewage treatment and drainage projects. Called the Clean Ohio Fund Act, Issue 2 was approved at the polls last November.
Second on the list was applying for some federal stimulus money. Through OMEGA there will be $11.6 million available in funds for anything related to water and sanitation facilities. Hopefully by starting now Wellsville can get a share of this available money when they dole it out next year. OMEGA is the Ohio Mid-Eastern Government Agencies which covers our village. They award grants to government entities in the region for basically infrastructure improvement projects. Village officials applied for funding from OMEGA to finish upgrading the sewage treatment plant this year. Apparently we were passed over.
As is well known the village did not receive one red cent in stimulus money this year along with many other small communities across the state. The bulk of Ohio's share of stimulus funds went to the 3 Cs - Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati. It wasn't for lack of trying. The Mayor applied for over $13 million directly through US Rep. Charlie Wilson's office. Village officials would have been jubilant to have even got a small per centage of that amount.
Another stumbling block in sewage projects is the much written about STAG funds being held up by the US EPA. That's in the area of $600,000 left in that grant that was ear marked for finishing up the sewage treatment plant and the Highland Avenue project. The EPA decision is now being appealed and those wheels are slow to turn. It took the EPA years to ask for documentation for a grant that was awarded back in 1992.
The third item on Cataldo's agenda was the contract with the County Engineer's office for sewage rates for residents in the Russell Hts. area. The village has a 40 year contract with that office to furnish sewage services for that area. That contract is yearly open for renegotiation for those fees. The dead line to renegotiate those rates is October 31.
The last time sewage rates were adjusted was in 2002. It was brought up in 2004 but was tabled and never revisited. Cataldo said they are looking into a flat fee rate increase and mentioned a dollar amount as an example. Right now sewage rates are based on water usage amounts for both village residents and customers that live outside village limits. BWD even has water meters on homes that use well water so their sewage bills can be determined.
Since it has been seven years and the cost of just about everything going up two of the committee members indicated it was time to look at an increase. Member Don Brown requested that any increase be seriously considered since he estimates that most of our residents are senior citizens living on fixed incomes or on government assistance. Brown stated the current minimum rates are a hardship for some.
No decisions were made at yesterday's meeting. We'll have to wait and see what comes about.
ole nib
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