WESTON — Future improvements to Weston’s sewer plant may mean residents will see slightly higher bills
from Northwestern Water & Sewer District.
Dave Cook with NWWSD told council members at their last meeting in February that the Ohio EPA has
committed to a zero percent loan to cover the cost of the $1.6 million project. He said he hopes bids
come in at less than $1.5 million.
"We have applied for loan forgiveness, but we haven’t been notified if it’ll qualify or not,"
he said. Cook explained the Ohio EPA has a requirement that only users of the project pay for the
project.
"Once it’s all done you’ll see on your bill a debt surcharge for this plant. We’re working to
mitigate it through loan forgiveness and maybe offset the charge by reducing other charges."
"You have to pay, yes, but I am working on (loan) forgiveness. That’s my pledge to you."
Later in the discussion Cook said he knows the financial arm of the EPA has some loan forgiveness funds,
"but we won’t know for several months if they’ll grant some to this project. The district will work
internally to mitigate this."
Councilman Bill Morey asked how long residents would see the debt surcharge on their bills, and Cook said
funding is for 20 years.
Neal Materni with NWWSD explained the work includes a new pump station which will make better use of the
village’s wastewater plant and construction of a microscreen building. The latter collects rags, sticks,
etc. in the wastewater and discharges the items as a pancake-type object which can be thrown away. A
splitter chamber will also be added to equally distribute into each of the plant’s current four aeration
cells.
Bids will be opened March 15 at the district office, and construction could start in June. The project
could take up to one year to complete.
Sarah Easterwood updated council members on this summer’s Weston Days festival. She announced a spaghetti
fund-raising dinner will be held at the fire station Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.
She said there will also be a 50/50 drawing and maybe a silent auction.
"I’m hoping to bring in enough money to pay for most of the fireworks," she stated, adding,
"I hope to see a lot of people come."
Gary Hafner will be shooting the fireworks. Easterwood said if enough money is not raised for fireworks
this year, all the money from the dinner will go into the fireworks fund for 2012.
The festival committee’s next meeting will be April 11 at 7 p.m. in the library.
Kay Michalski thanked council for allowing the baton twirling organizers use village hall for sign-ups. A
total of 30 girls has signed up for lessons, and "people are still contacting us."
The group’s Web page is countrykickersbatoncorps.com.
Practices will be at the fire hall or outdoors, and March 15 is the first practice from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Michalski said the baton students are being asked to help clear tables and help with the spaghetti
dinner.
"It’s been a huge success. We are so excited," she stated.
Sue Roudebush asked why, with the economy so poor, village council is going forward with requiring new
sidewalks in part of the town. She said she is on a fixed income and waited to speak up because she was
hoping someone else would do it.
Mayor Howard Lashuay responded that the project was started several years ago, and a lot of residents
already put them in "when they didn’t want to."
Councilman Shad Kendall explained two letters were sent to residents to give them a year to prepare for
the project. "We give people plenty of time to come up with finances to get them in. This was put
off for a year. How much more time do you think someone needs?"
Councilman Mark Sheffer repeated that council already suspended the project one year to give people time
to save up finances for it. "It’s not an easy project for anybody," he said. "But we
can’t adjust the program for one person." He encouraged her to put the cost on her taxes so she’ll
have longer to pay for it.