MARIETTA — Sewers in Devola and flow meters in Belpre were topics of discussion at Thursday morning’s meeting of the Washington County Commissioners.

Curt Welch, Belpre Township trustee, said he has been approached by people in Dunham Township about the upcoming sewer rate increases.

“I’m concerned about the sewer increase down in the Little Hocking area…the Barlow area, Dunham township,” he said.

Commission President David White said the increase will be the same for everyone in the county who is on the sewer system.

“Why is the rate increasing $40 for the month?” Welch asked.

“That was just an estimate based on when Devola goes hot to pay off the estimated $15-$20 million debt service that we’ll have,” Commissioner Ron Feathers replied. “It’s an enterprise fund, Curt. Everybody that’s part of it pays into the enterprise fund.”

Welch asked if Devola paid into the fund when the sewer in Barlow was done, as Devola didn’t have sewer then.

Feathers said people on the sewer in Devola paid into the fund, but the new people going on the sewer system haven’t paid yet.

“That’s why they are going to have to pay about $15,000 up front while the people down in Little Hocking only had to pay $1,000 or $4,000,” he said. “They’re going to have to roughly $15,000. That’s the number that we used at the meeting.”

Welch said residents are concerned about such a large raise for a sewer system that they feel didn’t need to happen.

“Well, we lost that in court,” Feathers replied. “Yes, it does need to happen, because a judge says it does. I am 100 percent with you on this, but, unfortunately, when you lose that and you’ve got to move forward with it…the enterprise fund, the way the enterprise fund works is that everybody who uses that service, that’s how you have to split the rates up. It’s insane.”

“That’s why they fought it for so long,” Commissioner Kevin Ritter added.

Asa Boring, Belpre Township trustee, said the increased rates would hurt a lot of county residents.

“You know, Ron, you were out there on (Ohio) 339 with that old couple with me,” he said. “They had to sell their house and move out because they couldn’t afford it any more.”

White said that was why commissioners argued against the EPA’s ruling that Devola had to be sewered.

“There are going to be people driven out of their homes and the EPA does not care,” he said. “It breaks my heart. Some of those people, they are in their homes only by virtue of the fact that they’ve had their house paid for for years and they are barely getting by. They are going to be driven into some sort of elderly housing or something.”

Feathers said the average cost of taxes for residents living in the western end of Devola is about $1,900 per year, including small houses, the farm houses and the newer houses being built.

“But when you look at a $500, and that’s just a number we’re getting people prepared for…when you’re looking at a $500 a year increase in your taxes, that is a 25 percent hit right now,” Feathers added. “And many of these ladies, I’ve spoken to them…they live on Walnut, they live on Masonic, and they are scared to death.”

In other commission business, Shawn Dalrymple, Washington County wastewater superintendent, said the civil engineering firm ADR & Associates of Marietta has given him final drawings for replacing the flow meter in Belpre. He said they will show contractors the site and then give them two to three weeks to submit bids.

“We’d like to move forward with the project, but that’s where we are right now,” he said, noting they were checking by-pass valves to make sure they are working and usable.

“And we’re trying to get a mass idea of how to get the plants to shut down for the pipe installation,” he said.

Feathers said they’ve been getting bills from the City of Belpre.

In 2017, Marietta raised their rates 11.8 percent, Feathers said. Belpre raised rates about 4 percent, which is the typical annual raise.

This year, Marietta is charging a fee instead of a percentage depending on what bracket you are in, White said.

“The previous commissioners, for nine years, did not look at raising sewer rates,” Feathers said. “They were $55 a month. When David and I took seat, the sewer accounts were literally bankrupt. If you had a lift station go down, we didn’t have enough money in reserve to even pay for it.”

He said they made a resolution that as long as they were commissioners, in April of each year, they would review the sewer accounts and make necessary adjustments.

“Over the years, they’ve been as low as zero, or in this case, I think it went up, what, $3?” he said. “We try to maintain that as bare minimum as possible. But when you have the largest infrastructure project in the history of Washington County on the board of commissioners, that’s about ready to take place, it’s going to be painful for an awful lot of citizens.”

He said when you get a bill and you are used to paying $12,000 a month for wastewater for Belpre, but then you get one for $159,000, something’s wrong.

“It’s been going on for a year. (Belpre Mayor) Mike Lorentz has been good to work with,” Feathers said. “His group has been working with Shawn (Dalrymple) down there.”

Michele Newbanks can be reached at mnewbanks@mariettatimes.com.

***

Dates to Remember

* Monthly finance committee meeting, 10 a.m., Tuesday, courthouse

* Regular commission meeting, 9 a.m., Thursday, Gilman Avenue

* Courthouse closed for Thanksgiving, Nov. 28

Source: Washington County Commission Clerk