Perrysburg sewer peace appears in the pipeline

6/20/2001

Perrysburg officials say they're confident they have a deal to end years of expensive bickering over which government agency carries sewage from much of the city, but they'll let residents review it first.

The deal is considered a key to ending years of fighting between Perrysburg and Perrysburg and Middleton townships over annexation - a fight that will have cost the city an estimated $1 million from 1998 through the end of this year. But many residents have had lukewarm reactions to the negotiations, fearing the city is giving away too much independence.

The deal calls for the city to spend $300,000 to help repair a sewer line belonging to the Wood County Regional Water District. The water district would agree to cut its rates by 30 percent for customers in the city. The city would spend $100,000 to help repair a Ford Road pump station and build a sewer line along Simmons Road. The city would get 800 sewer customers for its wastewater-treatment plant.

Perrysburg council was set to approve the basics of the sewage deal last night but agreed to delay a vote until after a special meeting July 10 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the deal. By then, council hopes to have worked out the final language with officials from the townships and the water district.

About a third of Perrysburg households get two bills - one from the city for treating sewage and one from the water district for transporting the sewage. The sewer wars go back decades, to when Perrysburg allowed Wood County to extend sewer lines from Perrysburg's lines to serve what was then a rural area. Perrysburg has since annexed the land for a host of subdivisions, but the water district refused to sell the city the pipes, wanting to reap the return of a boom of customers.

Perrysburg, in turn, began to build its own lines right next to the water district's.