photo by: Scott McCloskey/File
The Wheeling City Council recently approved an ordinance to use ARPA funds to help pay for wastewater improvements throughout the city. Those improvements are part of the city’s long-term Water Pollution Control plan, which included the previous Bedillion Lane project.
WHEELING — Officials in Wheeling are moving forward with the next phase of the city’s long-term Water Pollution Control Plan, and federal pandemic relief money from the American Rescue Plan Act will be used to pay for a portion of the work.
Members of Wheeling City Council recently approved an ordinance authorizing City Manager Robert Herron to enter into an amendment to the owner-engineer agreement with CT Consultants Inc. of Mentor, Ohio, for professional engineering services and wastewater system improvements. The contract with CT Consultants in the amount of $738,000 was for wastewater system improvements as part of Phase III B of the city’s long-term Water Pollution Control Plan.
In order to update the city’s aging infrastructure and address environmental issues, the city has been moving ahead with a multi-phase plan to improve the wastewater systems throughout the city. The overall plan is expected to take around 12 years to complete at an estimated total cost of around $280 million.
The city has already committed millions toward the completion of sewer separation projects and several other major system upgrades in neighborhoods throughout the city as part of initial phases of the long-term plan.
Since infrastructure projects are deemed an eligible use for the ARPA funds, city leaders have targeted some priority wastewater and sewer system projects for a portion of its pandemic relief allocation. The city of Wheeling received a total of around $29.5 million in ARPA funds, which must be distributed or spent on eligible projects by the end of 2024.
Originally, the language in the ordinance for engineering services for this recent round of improvements was written with costs to be charged to the city’s Project Fund. However, since the work involves ARPA sewer improvement projects that the city’s Public Works Committee and Wheeling City Council approved this past summer, the recent amendment changes the funding source to ARPA funds.
The modifications associated with the engineer’s services provides for studies, designs, bidding and other support services of the Water Pollution Control Division projects.
“City council’s allocation of funds for professional engineering services and wastewater system improvements is another required step regarding the city’s obligation to comply with its long-term control plan,” said Ward 4 Councilman Jerry Sklavounakis, who has championed efforts by the city to tackle its huge slate of wastewater and sewer projects. “It also allows the city to address its old, antiquated and failing municipal wastewater infrastructure while at the same time providing city residents relief from suffering through another water or sewer rate increase.”
Last year, the city approved water, sewer and refuse pickup rate hikes. The sewage rate hike alone represented a 45% increase, with the additional money collected being targeted toward funding for sewer system upgrades and improvement projects. The city has issued revenue bonds of up to $45 million to finance the cost of designing, acquiring, building and equipping a recent round of these projects.
In other action, council is using ARPA funding for a number of other projects in the city. A new piece of legislation is set to be introduced during Tuesday’s meeting of Wheeling City Council to distribute $50,000 in ARPA funds to American Legion Post 1 for a renovation and rehabilitation project. A resolution is also slated for approval Tuesday using ARPA funds for “restoring pre-pandemic employment and retaining workers” as provided in the U.S. Treasury Department’s guidelines for use of this funding.
