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A visitor takes a photo of the Prairie Creek treatment train wetland during a wetlands tour in July.
CELINA - Upgrades to the Prairie Creek treatment train are on their way, as the Grand Lake St. Marys Facilities Authority set a date next month to open bids for the project.
In a resolution passed at their regular meeting on Tuesday, commissioners from Auglaize and Mercer counties set Oct. 23 as the day they will open the bids.
The planned work includes the expansion of settling ponds along the proposed inlet modifications at the Prairie Creek treatment train, which will ease issues with the pump rates at the property. The pump rates have continuously gotten lower over the years, and crews have had to repeatedly rebuild the pumps, which has become costly over time.
The Prairie Creek property includes roughly 30 acres of constructed wetlands, 70 acres of forested wetlands and 100 acres of littoral (shoreline) wetlands. It's located on the south side of the lake on State Route 219, east of the Aqua View Estates subdivision, and was Grand Lake's first treatment train, built in 2012.
"Some lessons were learned on this," Mercer County agriculture and natural resource director Theresa Dirksen said. "You'll notice on newer projects, we do have deeper settling cells at the start because we found out that that worked a lot better."
When the project was proposed in early spring, Dirksen estimated the cost at about $40,000. Funding will come from leftover money from the Mercer Wildlife Area H2Ohio grant agreement.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners heard from Dirksen that it's unclear if her funding request to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' H2Ohio staff for the construction of wetlands at the Harmon Preservation Project will be approved.
"I had a quick conversation with an ODNR employee at a meeting a few weeks ago, and she said they've kind of allotted where the money's going for this year, but she never said (whether that included Dirksen's request). I kind of got the impression that they may not be funding it, but I don't know that for sure," she said. "I need an official answer."
If the ODNR funding falls through, Dirksen said she can always apply for Clean Ohio funds, which would cover up to 75% of the total project costs, then supplement the rest with federal 319 grant money. Going that route would delay the project for around a year, she noted.
The group hopes to construct a wetland on the nearly 52-acre property's farm field area, and to maintain its wooded area and wooded wetland area. The Auglaize County property will also feature a passive walking path and a small parking lot for public access. Dirksen estimated the project would cost around $1.3-$1.5 million.
The property, purchased for $1.49 million this year, is situated along Koehn Road within St. Marys Township.
Commissioners also approved the treasurer's report on Tuesday. The current unexpended fund balance is $1,606,190.02. The year-to-date revenue is $1,640,960.34 and the year-to-date expenses are $1,774,222.96.
The LFA board tentatively meets next at 11 a.m. Oct. 28 in the Mercer County Commissioners office, located at the Central Services Building, 220 W. Livingston St., Celina.
