(L-R: McCray Powell, Amy Hollenbaugh, Cameron Peck, Matthew Summer, Nancy Sonick, Caroline Beach, Erica Padgett.)
NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Nelsonville City Council, operating under the city charter, met Monday to discuss more than $570,000 in additional funding needed for the city’s Phase III Water Project.
The water project involves replacing water infrastructure, and the area resulting in increased costs is “along Poplar Street, starting around St. John’s and extending clear over to Brewer Boulevard and then out to Chestnut Street,” City Project Manager Michael Betts said at the meeting.
Betts explained that the city has a 10-inch PVC water line running along Washington Street to the water towers, branching down St. John’s Street and extending along Poplar Street to Chestnut Street.
“We found that during one of the previous sewer projects, there’s also existing six-inch lines that are cast iron and antiquated, very old,” Betts said. “So the intent was to get rid of those six-inch lines.”
During the replacement process, a pipe burst twice, causing flooding and prompting a reevaluation of the project. As a result, city officials developed a new plan that included additional change order costs.
The project total is now around $3.7 million, including a $884,000 in contingency, which will cover the additional charge.
The charge is reflected in Ordinance 0626, which states that “the change will increase the contract price by $572,130, with the city’s responsibility for which $286,065, with the remaining balance being paid through previously approved grant funding from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.”
“Fortunately, with this project funding through the Ohio EPA, it is 50% grant, 50% loan at 0% interest for 30 years,” Betts said. “And if we move forward with it, it still achieves the end goal of getting rid of the antiquated lines and basically maximizing the efficiency of the system in that area.”
In other business, Nelsonville Police Department Chief Devon Tolliver presented the department’s January activity report.
“We had 296 calls for service, did 111 traffic stops, issued 36 traffic citations, seven parking citations, we had 11 traffic crashes, made 19 criminal arrests and seven warrant arrests,” Tolliver said. “And as some of you probably have seen, we also have seized over the last couple days 35 grams of suspected narcotics.”
Council members congratulated Tolliver and the police department for their efforts in maintaining public safety.
City Manager Danette Miller also addressed the council and recommended that Daniel Pickett be hired as the city prosecutor. The council approved her recommendation.
The council later entered executive session with the city manager and adjourned after returning to open session.
Nelsonville City Council meets every other Monday of each month, at Nelsonville City Council Chambers, 211 Lake Hope Drive. Its next regular meeting will be 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23. Meetings are live streamed on YouTube. Find more at cityofnelsonville.com.
The statutory council’s next meeting is at The Lodge at Hocking College, 15770 SR 691, next Monday, Feb 16.
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