Cleveland, OH
Lorain County
By Rebecca Turman
The Northeast Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is looking into initiating a study to evaluate the “potential changes to French Creek Sanitary Sewer Facility Planning Area boundaries,” according to a Request for Proposals listed on the NOACA website.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency may soon initiate a study on sewer boundaries in Lorain County. The map above shows the current boundary lines of areas serviced by Avon Lake in green and the French Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in red. Courtesy graphic
Area city officials are interested to see how the study will impact them, especially in the cities of Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville, which have been trying to settle an ongoing dispute regarding sanitary sewers (see map at left).
“In 2007 or so, this issue got brought up,” Avon City Engineer Rob Knopf said during a Feb. 2 interview.
When the city of Avon began construction of the sanitary sewer on Jaycox Road, running from south of I-90 north to Avon Lake, it became an issue for the French Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, owned by the city of North Ridgeville.
The sewage flows north to the Avon Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant, but should flow to the French Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant instead, according to North Ridgeville officials, per the Clean Water 2000 Plan.
The Clean Water 2000 Plan, established in 1979 as the Northeast Ohio 208 Water Quality Management Plan, created boundaries (Facility Planning Areas) dividing sewer service throughout Ohio. NOACA is responsible for “evaluating consistency in respective areas,” according to the website.
In July 2010, North Ridgeville Mayor Dave Gillock wrote a letter to James R. Gills, chair of the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) Water Quality Subcommittee of NOACA, stating the “diversion” of the sewage flow violated the 208 plan boundary areas, and he asked NOACA to recognize this violation.
At a September 2010 meeting, the NOACA governing board approved a resolution, agreeing the sewage flow to Avon Lake is “inconsistent with Clean Water 2000 … in that service and sewage flow for that area under Clean Water 2000 are part of the French Creek Facility Planning Area.”
In the meantime, at the end of August, the cities of Avon and Avon Lake submitted a letter to NOACA Executive Director Howard R. Maier, petitioning NOACA to “amend the current Clean Water 2000 Plan by redrawing the current Facility Planning Area boundary lines between French Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and Avon Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant to promote more efficient and economic treatment of wastewater from a portion of the city of Avon.”
“The study is purportedly being completed to potentially analyze the best way to sewer a portion of the northeast part of Lorain County,” Gillock said during a Friday interview. “It’s being done as a result of a disagreement, shall we say.”
The parties involved in the study include North Ridgeville, Avon, Avon Lake, Sheffield Village, Lorain and NOACA.
Knopf said Sheffield Village Mayor John Hunter brought up the fact a portion of his town would be better served going to Lorain than the French Creek Wastewater Treatment.
As a result, Knopf said it was added to the study.
He said the purpose of the study is to find a “common sense approach to this 208 map district to see where these existing areas should best be served while also looking at the economic impact.”
“NOACA is leading everything,” he said.
Gillock said the study, or the results that come from one, won’t necessarily resolve the original dispute.
“It’s one piece of information that will help us,” he said. “But there are several options of resolution.”
Some of those options include removing the pipe, having Avon pay for sewer tap-in fees or swapping properties, Gillock said.
“This study is just one small element,” he said. “There’s not going to be a one-best-case-scenario out of this study.”
Once a cost for the study is determined, the plan is for the cities involved to pay for it, both Gillock and Knopf said.
But Gillock said, “North Ridgeville is not helping to pay for this study because we’ve already completed a study which tells us we have lost about $653,000 in revenue already because of the redirection of our sewers.”
Gillock said the study paid for by North Ridgeville and conducted by CH2M Hill showed a potential loss of $5 million for the French Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Gillock clarified while the plant is owned by North Ridgeville, “it’s not really North Ridgeville versus or against Avon or Avon Lake.” He said it’s an issue for the plant.
“North Ridgeville is a customer,” he said, adding the money “lost” or the “potential loss,” if paid, wouldn’t be helping the city’s General Fund.
“This is all about French Creek,” he said. “It’s a huge problem and a huge issue.”
Gillock said the participating cities will have a vote on who will perform the studies.
“(We’re) waiting to see what the scope of service (for the study) will be,” he said. “We’ll see what comes out of that.”
Companies that submitted proposals for the study were set to present them yesterday, after The Press deadline.
“The study doesn’t bind us to anything” Gillock said. “(It) does give us some indications of – to a point – what might be out there.”
However, Gillock said NOACA can change the boundaries of the sewers.
“It’s a process we have to go through,” he added. “They still have to consider remuneration to French Creek (Wastewater Treatment Plant) should they change our service area.”
Gillock added the plant’s current rates are based on serving a particular area.
Ultimately, when asked what the ideal situation for North Ridgeville would be as a result of the study, Gillock said, “The best-case scenario would be to leave things alone and send everything to North Ridgeville.”
During a meeting discussing the boundary lines, Knopf said a NOACA staff member stated the boundary lines for the districts were not created using typical engineering design.
“They were done in terms of … well, this area needs service, what’s the best way to do this?” Knopf said.
He added the hope is to have a study finalized by mid-May.
“If things go the way that they should, the consumers should really not see an impact because it’s going to be the best way of doing things,” Knopf noted.
“The best case scenario for everyone is that NOACA recommends the realignment of the 208 map per our proposed master plan, which is to make this area go to Avon Lake,” Knopf said.
Right now the map shows that for people who live on the south side of Chester Road, their sewage is pumped to French Creek, but for the people who live on the north side of Chester Road, it’s pumped to Avon Lake, according to Knopf.
“Progress is definitely being made now,” Knopf said. “Hopefully by June, NOACA will make a decision.”
Amy Wainright, a representative from NOACA, said she could not comment on the study “outside of the competitive bid process,” which ended yesterday.
Contact Rebecca Turman at rturman@2presspapers.com
Tags: Avon, Avon Lake, North Ridgeville, Sheffield Village
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