MOUNT VERNON — A project listed in the 2003 master plan has made its way to the top of the city’s infrastructure to-do list.
The project involves replacing water lines and extending sewer lines on Clinton and Fairgrounds roads.
Only a few houses on Fairgrounds Road are in the city, but most of the houses on Clinton Road are. The remaining homes on Fairgrounds Road are in Morris Township.
“This project is being brought to the forefront because the county has prioritized this project,” City Engineer Brian Ball told the city council on Monday.
“What we’re looking at is running water from the east gate of the fairgrounds to Mansfield Avenue, and extending sewer from the horse race barn up to the top of the hill. [Then we’ll] go back to the sewage lift station which is on Upper Fredericktown Road and bring sewer back the other way, replacing existing sewer which the EPA has mandated be replaced.”
Replacing the sewer lines from Upper Fredericktown Road east on Clinton is part of an Environmental Protection Agency mandate to fix the Clinton Road pump station sanitary sewer overflow.
The primary benefit recipients of the water project are the residents of Latitude and Longitude drives and Fern, Grant, and Pearl avenues.
When the city completes the project, there will be water and sewer services along the entire length of Fairgrounds Road. Ball said the county plans some stormwater improvements, which are outside the scope of the city’s project.
Funding
The county wants to pave Fairgrounds Road and is a partner in the project. The county commissioners contributed $750,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money, which is already in city coffers.
Ball estimates the project to range between $2.7 million and $2.9 million. The remaining funding will come from several sources:
•$700,000 OPWC (Ohio Public Works Commission) grant
•$6,000 OPWC loan
•$105,000 from a water/wastewater surcharge account (Township residents on Fairgrounds Road are on a city-county contract and pay a 15% surcharge for city services.)
•$300,000 each from the city’s water and wastewater funds
Additionally, the city has asked Morris Township to contribute ARPA money for the project.
Ball expects to bid the project in the spring of 2024 and build next fall. That timing provides an additional seven to 12 months of surcharge collection that the city can put toward the cost.
Construction cannot start before July 1, 2024. Ball said the city has two years to complete the project.
Council members waived the third reading and passed legislation authorizing Ball to submit a joint application with the county for OPWC funding.
