By Jan H. Kennedy
FPS correspondent
July 15, 2008

Costly repairs at the Minerva Waste Water treatment plant will not result in a rate increase. At least not this year. In the next 12 months, council must find a half-million dollars to pay for improvements at the plant. A back-up electrical generator, now required by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, will cost $190,000, Administrator David Harp told council at its July 8 meeting. Harp will apply for a grant and/or loan from the District 19 Issue 2 infrastructure funds to help cover the cost. That improvement can be put off into next year, when those funds are dispersed.

Of more immediate concern are the two clarifiers.

"I'm not sure those will last until next summer," he said. "They are pretty deteriorated. If they don't work, the plant won't work."

The clarifiers are like large fans that rotate on the bottom of the septage ponds and continually stir the liquid, allowing the bacteria to sink and the clearer water to run over the top, said Rick Reed of CTI Inc., the village's consultant for the plant. That water is then purified before it is sent into Sandy Creek.

The clarifiers were last replaced in 1995. New clarifiers should last about 20 years, Reed said.

The clarifiers will cost about $155,000 each, and the work can be done during the winter. The system is designed to operate with one clarifier, allowing one to be shut down while the other is replaced, Reed said.

The village paid off the loan for the existing clarifiers last summer and the plant has been operating at a profit of about $35,000 since then.

"We had hoped to build up carry-over money to pay for these repairs, but we didn't think they would be needed this quickly," Harp said.

The sewer fund currently has $271,000, and some money can be taken from there, but Harp doesn't want to deplete it in case of an emergency. Borrowing from the village's general fund is another possibility.

However the financing is found, it will not affect rates residents now pay, which averages about $50 every three months, Harp said. That could change in a year or two.

"Our rates are below the state average," Harp said. "We try to keep it that way, but next year we face replacing the bar screen, and that will cost about $1 million. Even with grant help, that will require a large loan, and we may not be able to hold the rates at the current level then."

In other news, Harp said the Market Street Phase II renovation will begin July 21 and last about six weeks. The street will be closed between High Street and Lincoln Way during construction. Shoppers will have to find parking on other streets and walk to stores, Harp said.

Northstar Asphalt will start the village's paving program on the same date. Streets to be repaved are as follows:

North Market Street from Lincoln Way to East Street; portions of North Main Street and Hart Avenue; an alley off Bertha Street; Bridge Street from Route 183 to First Street; Grant Street to the abandoned railroad tracks; Random Road and union Street; and Morningside Drive and Venetian Way.

Council next meets on July 22 at 7:30 p.m.