Official: treatment lagoons won't last

FORT RECOVERY - The village's wastewater treatment lagoons likely will not last for many more years, village councilors learned on Monday night.

Village administrator Randy Diller at the regular meeting said according to the draft wastewater treatment system study report from Poggemeyer Design Group (PDG), Bowling Green, village officials have five or six different options to pursue for the lagoons.

Diller said after pressing PDG officials for their overall suggestion, they advised the village should consider a mechanical plant in the future based on the village's wastewater nutrient loading and floating.

Nutrient loading is an overabundance of nutrients in water. Diller added PDG officials said the lagoons also should be dredged.

A mechanical plant would treat and aerate wastewater and turn it into a dry sludge, Diller said. The dried sludge would then be hauled to a landfill.

PDG officials will likely attend either the Aug. 1 or Aug. 15 council meeting to discuss the full report, Diller said. Both meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. at the village hall.

Cost estimates for a mechanical plant from PDG ranged in price from $8 million to $12 million, Diller said. However, he also said a $1 million plant is out of the question, let alone a multi-million dollar facility, based on the village's needs.

Diller said lagoon systems will likely phase out over the coming years as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) favors mechanical treatment systems to eliminate runoff.

"All lagoon systems will face this," he said. "It's the nature of things changing over time."

On the subject of the lagoons, Diller said odors stemming from the treatment ponds have been under control for the past four to six weeks.

The village continues to apply an odor reducer twice a week in addition to injecting direct oxygen into the lagoons, injecting calcium chloride at the Cooper Farms Liquid Egg Processing (LEP) facility and adding hydrogen peroxide to incoming wastewater from lagoon one and two.

It also added a recycle pump to the effluent in pond two to dilute incoming water from pond one and six additional aerators.

Diller has said part of the odor issue likely stems from sanitizing chemicals used by Cooper LEP, whose water is treated at the village's wastewater treatment plant. The odor itself is largely due to nutrient loading, PDG officials have said.

In other business, Diller and mayor Dave Kaup said they met with Ohio Department of Transportation officials recently to discuss including the existing stoplight at the intersection of State Routes 119 and 49 in the Butler Street reconstruction project.

At issue is whether part of a $1.026 million Transportation Alternatives Program grant from ODOT awarded in April 2021 can be used to replace the stoplight.

Generally, traffic signal maintenance within a city or village falls under the authority of the municipality. However, ODOT must approve any traffic control signals on state or federal routes within a village, according to ODOT's website.

Although the current stoplight has been in use since 1934, ODOT officials have said the amount of traffic at the intersection does not warrant a stoplight and a four-way stop would be preferred, Diller said.

The estimated $3 million reconstruction project is slated for 2024-2025. The project would completely reconstruct Butler Street/State Route 119 within the village limits and include new curbs, sidewalks, street lights and hopefully stop lights, Diller has said.

Officials also may look into installing crosswalks near Van Trees Park. ODOT will pay for the top three inches of asphalt and striping work on the Butler Street reconstruction project. The projected cost of the top asphalt and striping is $185,000, Diller has said.

Additionally, the village received funding to assist with the planning of a school transportation plan.

"School transportation plan means you take a look at your whole community and determine what the best way to get your kids and your vehicles and your buses to the school and away from the school safely," Diller said after the meeting. "Then you identify projects that you need to work on improve it. The school transportation plan sets you up to be able to apply for funds out of the Safe Routes to School funding (through ODOT)."

Diller said the project is 100% funded and is anticipated to cost $23,000. A local committee will be formed to meet and complete the planning process as required, he said, and Choice One Engineering, Sidney, will be the consultant leading the process.

The next village council meeting is 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at the village hall.