toledoblade.com --

COLUMBUS — Sewer and water projects in the pipeline looking for funds may suddenly be flush with cash, thanks to nearly $280 million in federal stimulus cash designed to set shovels in motion to create jobs.

An "innovative" $805,000 storm water runoff project in the Maywood Avenue neighborhood of north Toledo, construction of an $8.8 million water equalization basin in Napoleon, and $5.5 million to clear up a drinking water contaminant problem in the Metamora-Lyons area of Fulton County were among 324 projects recommended by the state for funding yesterday.

Chris Korleski, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "allows us to do something we haven’t done in a long time. It is money we can basically give away." The agency had previously seen its financing efforts limited to low-interest loans to communities for drinking, sewer, and other clean water projects.

Mr. Korleski said the state opted early on to spread $220 million in water pollution control funds and $58.5 million in drinking water project dollars as widely as possible across the state, piggybacking the federal cash on the state’s existing revolving loan funds. The vast majority of the projects would be combinations of outright grants from the stimulus money and loans carrying interest rates ranging from zero to 3.7 percent.

The EPA director said the federal law required states to give away as cash at least half of its allotment. Ohio chose to give away all of it. Mr. Korleski noted, however, that the sheer volume of more than 1,600 applications submitted is an indication that the need to update Ohio’s antiquated water and sewer infrastructure exceeds available funding.

"I wish I had $82 gazillion to distribute," Mr. Korleski said. "I do not."

An example of a project to be funded entirely with stimulus dollars is the $805,500 project in the Maywood Avenue area in Toledo, cited as an "innovative" project because it would employ bioretention practices by amending natural soils, building homeowner rain gardens, and installing rain barrels along Maywood to naturally reduce storm water runoff and remove contaminants from the water. The street, near Forest Cemetery, has 66 lots containing 46 homes.

Also among the recommended projects is the $428,391 installation of sanitary sewers in the Dearden/Birdsall area of the city. The stimulus money will cover $321,293 of the project with the rest made up by a loan.

The biggest project in the region is the construction of an $8.8 million equalization basin in the city of Napoleon. The funding is evenly split between stimulus cash and a loan.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com, or 614-221-0496.

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