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Loan program offers sewer-project relief
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - August 18, 2010)
Loan program offers sewer-project relief
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon City Council approved a first-of-its-kind loan program last week to ease residents' burden on costs associated with a sanitary-sewer project on Wilson Mills Road.
The program will provide taxpayer money for costs such as purchasing and installing water meters and running lateral lines to homes. In the past, the city had asked homeowners to pay those costs.
Council President Philip King abstained from the vote on the matter, which passed with the approval of every other member of council.
He said he abstained because he is likely to use the loan program, unless directed otherwise by the city's law director. While Mr. King is not the owner of record of property along Wilson Mills Road that is part of the sewer project, he shares the home with his wife, who does own the property.
The loan program may not be offered for any future sewer projects as in this case. "There is not a guarantee we'll do it again," he said.
He said council is discussing the creation of a revolving loan program that may be used in similar situations in the future, although that issue remains in discussion.
Mr. King said this project was unique, because the city was ordered by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to sewer that area. Acting under a mandate by the state, he said, was unlike any other project.
The project is unique from any other sewer project but not just because the EPA mandated it.
City Manager David Lelko said, several years ago, residents along Claridon Road (Aquilla Road) also were mandated to receive sewers, but they did not receive any loans from the city.
Mr. Lelko said both areas were designated as part of an "anti-degradation" program when the city received state money for an upgrade of its treatment plant. To receive the money, the city had to agree to sewer Wilson Mills and Claridon roads within certain time frames.
So, in that respect, Claridon Road was no different than Wilson Mills Road, he said.
Mr. Lelko said the EPA even considered Thwing Road but determined the costs were prohibitive for the few residents who would be serviced.
But Gayland Moore, the city's director of public service, said one more factor played a role in the two projects -- income levels in the two areas -- and that made the difference.
Mr. Moore said about a dozen residents on Claridon Road were facing about the same costs of $11,500 to $16,300 in assessments, as are the two dozen residents along Wilson Mills Road.
However, he said, surveys of residents along the two streets showed a difference in income levels. The average income levels were required information for the city's application for a zero percent interest loan through the EPA's water-pollution control fund. Mr. Moore said the average income levels along Claridon Road failed to meet the criteria for the loan, while the average income levels along Wilson Mills Road did.
That allowed the city to save money on the cost of the overall project and offer residents a loan program that will ease their burden, he said.
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