Wood County residents fear Penta will cause more flooding

7/11/2008

BOWLING GREEN - Three Perrysburg Township households who fear the new Penta Career Center will add to the flooding woes in their neighborhood have asked the Wood County Common Pleas Court to prevent the school from opening this fall.

Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Crocker, Dean Stroh, and Paul Fleck, who all live on Grassy Creek Drive in the Belmont Woods subdivision, filed the complaint against the Bowling Green-based Northwestern Water and Sewer District and Penta Career Center saying the school should not open "unless and until proper steps have been taken to assure that the plaintiffs will not be unduly harmed by the flow of sanitary and storm sewage from the Penta system."

The residents say they've had sewer backups for more than a decade and have raised the issue repeatedly with the sewer district.

"The response has been that the situation will improve, with very little effort being made to assure that improvement happens," the complaint states.

"I don't know how it sounds to other people, but I got used to indoor plumbing when I was about 2 years old, and so did Doug [Crocker]," Richard Kerger, attorney for the group said.

Mr. Kerger said his clients are aware the sewer district plans to install a new and larger sewer line to Perrysburg, but they are convinced the addition of up to 2,000 students and 250 staff at Penta will intensify their problems before the solution is implemented.

Bill Barber, engineer for the water and sewer district, disagrees.

He said the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency had to approve Penta's new sewer system.

"For Penta to get a permit, they would have had to go through that process and show that there would not be an adverse affect to the system," Mr. Barber said. "That was done. That procedure was followed."

Penta Superintendent Fred Susor said much of the same.

"I think the real issue is between the homeowners and the Northwestern Water and Sewer District," he said, adding that it's unfortunate the school is being put in the middle.

Mr. Susor said plans are to start the school year Sept. 2 in the new 522,000-square-foot building, the construction of which totaled $90 million.

The new Penta is located off Buck Road between Bates and Lime City roads and is across Buck from the Belmont Woods subdivision.

Mr. Barber said construction started this week on a parallel pipeline that will more than double the flow of sewage from east to west, which should alleviate much of the problems in Perrysburg Township and other eastern points. He said the roughly $1 million project is to be completed about Oct. 1.

"Basically, we're spending a lot of money and so is the city of Perrysburg to enhance this east side flow problem," Mr. Barber said. "[The plaintiffs] are in the lowest point."

The case has been assigned to Judge Alan Mayberry. No hearing date has been set.