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SALEM -- The city Utilities Commission is expecting to hear in June whether a $15 million loan is coming Salem's way to fund up front the Phase 3 sewer treatment plant upgrade.
Commission Chair Bob Hodgson mentioned the possibility of receiving a loan for the full amount from the Ohio Water Development Authority for the project.
Funds from a sewer rate increase that takes effect May 1 will help cover the payments for the loan needed to cover the required upgrades to meet regulatory demands, replace outdated equipment and increase efficiency at the plant on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The commission also hopes to secure a grant of $235,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission to cover nearly half the cost of a project to replace the rip-rap along the shoreline of the Salem reservoir off of Gamble Road to help protect the dam structure. The utilities department would cover $236,000 of the $471,000 project cost.
With some pretty hefty project costs from plant upgrades and other smaller projects always coming up to pull at the purse strings, both Hodgson and Commission Vice Chair Randy Malmsberry requested Utilities Superintendent Don Weingart and personnel compile a list of upcoming projects that could be coming, to see what's out there, for an overall picture.
Malmsberry said he doesn't have a comfort level with the money coming in and going out and the cash flow regarding some of the smaller projects that keep coming up.
Weingart said some projects come up when equipment fails and they have no idea when the state of Ohio is going to require some things. Both Malmsberry and Hodgson said they understand that, they were just talking about projects that he knows are out there in the near future so they know the cash flow is there to cover them.
Weingart said they should be looking at an inventory of equipment again. Other than that, he said they're "going to have to get a ouija board."
The commission agreed to have Alfred Benesch Engineering complete a risk and resilience assessment and emergency response plan study for up to $25,000. The risk assessment has to be done every five years.
An additional change order for the Snyder Road sewer line was approved for $86,083 for some additional costs incurred by the contractor Marucci & Gaffney. The commission also approved the purchase of a new mower at the sewer treatment plant for $13,000, since repairs to the old mower, which is more than 15 years old, would have cost nearly $6,000.
Regarding the new state requirement for water back flow device testing, the commission adopted language authorizing the utilities department to terminate a customer's water supply service for failing to adhere to the rules of Ohio Revised Code 3745-95 dealing with back flow devices and allowing for the inspection.
The next meeting of the commission will be 4 p.m. May 13 in council chambers at city hall.
mgreier@salemnews.net12-