BLOOMINGBURG, Ohio — Village officials told residents it could take another two to two-and-a-half years to complete a new water treatment plant once a required state permit is issued, during a town hall-style question-and-answer session at the village council’s June 16 meeting, according to meeting minutes.
Barb Anderson, an engineer with the village’s consulting firm Verdantas, told residents the permit application has been under Ohio EPA review for 10 months and remains at a standstill. Once the permit is issued, the village would still need to secure the remaining 20% of the project’s funding before plans could be finalized through the Huntington District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Anderson said. The village may qualify for some debt forgiveness through a state funding program, but will not know its standing until a list of approved projects is released, she said.
The water system has been a recurring source of trouble for the village this year. Equipment failures at the treatment plant forced the village onto well water temporarily in late May and triggered additional Ohio EPA testing, village officials said at the time. The new plant remains on schedule to break ground Nov. 1, officials have said.
Anderson said the new system will include reverse osmosis treatment and water softening required by the Ohio EPA for the village’s water return to Paint Creek, and will match the current system’s capacity of 150,000 gallons per day. The village currently uses between 40,000 and 53,000 gallons daily, she said.
Council also approved Resolution 26-12, an emergency measure authorizing Mayor Tim Bennett to accept a proposal for engineering services tied to drilling a fourth village well, after previously tabling the item pending written cost verification. Anderson told residents the well was not part of the original new-plant design, but became necessary after wells No. 1 and 2 were found to be in need of repair beyond saving. The Ohio EPA will require the new well to be completed before issuing the permit for the broader plant project, she said.
In other action, council voted to end Doug Wallace’s 90-day probationary period and hire him as the village’s water clerk, setting his pay at $18 an hour under Resolution 26-15.
Village Administrator Bob Daugherty told council the water tower came back online June 15 after an extended outage. Council approved adding a $2,500 remote control and alert system for the tower, which Daugherty said would notify him immediately of problems and let him operate the controls from his phone. The system will carry an annual service cost of $500 and is compatible with the planned new treatment plant, he said.
Residents at the meeting also asked how they would be notified of a water emergency. Officials said notices would be placed on every door if water were unsafe to use, with additional alerts posted to the village’s website and Facebook page and sent through the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office text alert system. Daugherty said the village’s new website is expected to launch July 1 and will include more frequent water quality updates.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Village of Bloomingburg.
