February 28, 1999
No Vacancy: Growth stymied with no sewer agreement between county and city
By David Crawford
Staff Writer
Three area developers say that the lack of an agreement between the county sewer district and Tiffin is affecting the overall development of housing around the city.
One developer, Tom Werling, said he cannot complete his planned expansion of the Honey Creek subdivision until the county and city agree on the terms for his subdivision to connect to city sewers.
Both city and county officials are aware of the sewer connection problems faced by Werling and other developers. There are negotiations involving all governments to attempt to solve the problems faced by area developers on how to provide sewer service.
Some regional government entities such as SEIDC and Seneca Regional Planning Commission are helping local governments to negotiate.
Rich Focht, director of SEIDC, said that his organization is helping local governments to reach an agreement on how to provide sewers to unsewered areas.
But as governmental negotiations proceed, Werling said he cannot understand the county's attitude of ''sitting around and doing nothing'' while development occurs all around Seneca County.
He said that he has turned down requests to build $150,000 to $180,000 homes for people because there is nowhere to build.
''Fifty lots at $150,000 means that the county doesn't want a $7.5 million taxbase,'' said Werling.
He said Tiffin could grow 10 to 20 percent if the county and city would agree. Until then, there is a ''no vacancy sign at the county line.''
Other area home builders echo Werling's comments.
Richard Zeis Jr. feels that a lack of an agreement is stifling development around the city.
He said no agreement has put the builders into a political tug of war between governments, a place where the home builders do not belong.
Ray Steinmetz said he would like to see the governments cooperate to improve area growth.
''We want to see Seneca County grow,'' said Steinmetz.
The president of the local home builders association, Joseph Steininger, said he has no comment on the situation due to the pending negotiations among governments.
Tiffin Mayor Bernard Hohman said that the lack of an agreement is a block to development, but there are negotiations to help remove it.
Seneca County Administrator Robert Anderson said he is happy to hear that local developers want to invest in the county. But the district does have certain standards and requirements that must be met for county sewer projects.
How the lack of an agreement hurts the expansion of the Honey Creek subdivision relates to the county-owned sewer package plant. It currently has the capacity to serve the current homes in the subdivision.
For Werling's expansion to take place, the Ohio EPA and the county sewer district want the new sewer coverage to include the new homes plus the other older homes on septic systems near the development.
Both Anderson and Werling said that there were negotiations on how to expand the current plant to cover the new and existing homes. But negotiations ended when Werling found it was cheaper to connect to recently constructed city sewers than to expand the plant.
Werling said he initially began to consider a connection to the city sewer line as a possibility for the EPA hearings on expanding the subdivision's sewage plant. But city sewers became his favored alternative when he determined it would only cost $50,000 to connect to the city sewers, as opposed to between $120,000 and $130,000 for expanding the plant
Also with the city sewer, he said the EPA would most likely consider a connection to the city sewer and sewage treatment plant as the best method to handle the sewage.
Werling said it was not his responsibility to expand the county sewage plant.
''They've known about adding the existing homes for five years, and nothing has been done,'' said Werling.
Mary Beth Cohen with the Ohio EPA said that she has not received a permit on expansion of the county plant.
If there would be such an application, Cohen said the EPA would consider the alternatives to expansion including connecting to the nearby Tiffin sewer line, which ends at the intersection of SR 231 and US 224.
She said that the Ohio EPA view on the selection would be for the best alternative for the area, which could include connecting to the city sewer if it has the capacity and ability to accept the development's sewage.
Since the county recently hired a sanitary engineer and appointed members to the county sewer district, Werling said he is not sure how to proceed with his sewer connection wishes.
All he has is a letter from the county's sanitary engineering consultants stating that a development and service agreement are needed between the city and county for the new line.
While Werling waits for negotiations, he said that he is not sure what to do to help speed his plans for development.
''Even if we got approval today, it would take us until this time next year to move dirt,'' said Werling.