CAMPBELL Meetings to discuss plant sale, housing

Sale of the water treatment plant would help the city out of debt.
CAMPBELL -- Town hall meetings are scheduled at the Municipal Building for 6 p.m. Thursday and Monday to discuss the proposed sale of the city's water treatment plant and provide information about the Community Housing Improvement Program, respectively.
At Thursday's meeting, Mayor Jack Dill will present details of a proposal by Aqua Ohio to buy the water plant.
Under the proposal, said Dill, Aqua Ohio would take over operation and maintenance of the plant and pay the city $3 million up front and $300,000 annually for 10 years.
Then, Aqua Ohio would own the facility, unless the city decided to renew the contract and pay for the plant's operation and maintenance.
Rest of the deal
The pact requires Aqua Ohio to invest $100,000 annually in the plant and its operations for improvements and repairs beyond routine work. Also, residents would see no water rate increase in the first year of Aqua ownership, but there could be a maximum 4.9 percent annual increase in each of the next nine years.
Dill said previously that the plant is "barely" in the black now, and it would require increasing water rates 6 percent to 10 percent or more each year to keep it profitable.
The $6 million coming to the city would help it retire the $4 million debt incurred from state loans used to upgrade the facilities. Campbell is under a state-imposed fiscal emergency, and its operation is overseen by a state-appointed Financial Planning and Supervision Commission.
At Monday's 6 p.m. meeting, information and applications for the city's Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) will be available.
The city received a $556,000 Ohio Department of Development CHIP grant to rehabilitate and/or repair owner-occupied homes and private rental units.
Under the grant, $215,000 is available for the rehabilitation of eight homes, including four citywide and four in the 1st Ward target area; $32,000 for home repair citywide; $100,000 for private rental unit rehabilitation; and $80,000 for down-payment assistance for rehabilitation citywide. The balance of the grant will be used for administration and implementation.