LISBON Officials to inform public of sewer costs

Users must repay any loan taken out to finance the project.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Residents and businesses in the Winona area will learn more about how much they'll be expected to fork over to pay for a state-mandated sewer system to be installed there.
Columbiana County Commissioner Jim Hoppel said Wednesday that a public meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Winona fire hall on Whinery Road, just north of its intersection with Winona Road in Butler Township.
About 100 households, businesses and churches will be affected by the estimated $1.7 million project to install sewer service to the area.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency issued orders to put in municipal sewers to replace leaking septic tanks that are posing a pollution and health risk. County officials have worked for months lining up as many grants as possible to help pay for the undertaking and have succeeded in securing about $1.1 million in state and federal money.
Officials, however, also have been forced to apply for a $600,000 federal loan. That loan must be repaid by those using the system, Hoppel said.
Public's costs
Hoppel noted that should bids on the project, to be awarded in coming weeks, be less than the $1.7 million conservatively estimated for the project, then a lesser amount could be borrowed, reducing users' potential debt.
At the public meeting, county officials will provide those attending with a range of the costs they can expect to be charged.
Besides paying back any loan, users also are likely to be hit with tap-in fees and monthly sewer-user fees, and they must pay for filling in their septic tank.
Hoppel would not provide figures, saying county officials want to wait until the meeting and give that information directly to the public.
Plans call for starting the project in February or March. It will take about six to nine months to finish.
Any house or business within 200 feet of the sewer will be required to tie in to the system, county Engineer Bert Dawson said.
Plans call for pumping sewage to a county-owned treatment plant along state Route 172 near Guilford Lake.
The plant will not have to be enlarged to handle the additional sewage, Dawson added.