“Finally,” was the first word out of newly elected Mayor Bob Hensley’s mouth. He said he noticed the pressure increase at his house on election night, so much so he had to turn the spigot down to keep water from bouncing out of the sink. Campbell said all testing was completed and the tank was fully operational on Thursday.
The new tower was completed at the end of 2009, but the board of public affairs trustees, the elected body in charge of New Miami’s utilities, decided not to install a pressure reducing valve for financial reasons. The useless vessel came to light last February when the county commissioners were considering requests for Community Development Block Grant funding.
The village was asking for almost $130,000 to fix some alleys, but Commissioner Don Dixon said that was “ridiculous” considering the water tower situation.
“I really don’t care if they have that alley paved or not,” he said at the time. “They have to have water to live.”
The county penciled in $80,000 for New Miami’s water system, but that amount was halved in the final version of the program that was sent to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
After the county decided to provide funding for the water system, the utility board agreed to kick in $25,000. It’s not just the valve involved, however. A study of the village’s water distribution system and facilities revealed they need to replace the liner on a sedimentation basin and they needed to disinfect the unused new tank — because it has been sitting dormant for so long — and demolish the old tank.
Campbell said the valve was about $33,000, it cost about $1,200 to disinfect the tank and it cost another $2,000 to adjust some controls. He said the village has secured funds to demolish the old tower — proposals to decommission the site are due next week — within the next 90 days.
There was tension between the two elected boards over the water tower, with the village council allocating money for the valve and the utility board refusing to budge. Since the village does not have a village administrator form of government, the trustee board is required. Rather than spending money for the valve, Campbell said the trustees chose to spend money on broken water mains in the aged system and some other projects.
Once the county stepped in, Campbell said the board of public affairs trustees has really done an about-face.
“The village board of public affairs has taken a giant step forward and is taking a proactive position when it comes to maintaining their existing infrastructure and reinvesting in it, to ensure the future of safe potable water,” Campbell said.
Don Fox, president of the public affairs board, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Campbell said the village has secured a 20-year-interest-free $400,000 loan from the Ohio Public Works Commission and they intend to complete the half-finished meter upgrade project and other projects that need attention.
Dixon said the county will continue to work with the village and more Community Development Block Grant money will likely be approved, because he said New Miami is near the top of the list of low-to-moderate income communities the block grant funding is designed to support.
“It’s a good accomplishment, I think it’s good for the residents and the users of that water system,” he said. “I know there are some other improvements being done and we’ll continue to help them in any way we can, to see that the system is brought up to the standards that it needs to, and to maintain a viable water system.”
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