By Aimee Hancock
COVINGTON — The Covington Council passed an emergency resolution during its regular meeting Monday to authorize the solicitation of bid proposals for the design of a wastewater treatment plant.
This request for proposals (RFP) will be open until the bid opening on Aug. 11.
During the June 30 meeting, council members heard results from the recently-completed evaluation of the village’s aging wastewater treatment plant. The study, completed by Poggemeyer/Kleinfelder, presented the following three options to the village: replacement of some components and utilization of existing infrastructure that can be saved; complete abandonment of the existing facility and construction of a new plant; and complete abandonment of the existing facility and connection to the city of Piqua.
According to Village Administrator Kyle Hinkelman, council members have chosen to move forward with option one.
“This option allows the village to salvage the components of our wastewater treatment plant that have value, remove the ones that do not, and build new the components that we need to make sure we’re meeting all the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state of Ohio guidelines,” Hinkelman said.
Option one has an engineer’s estimate price of $14 million.
“(Poggemeyer/Kleinfelder) estimated the design service to be part of that money, so this process is the beginning of a journey that our village will take toward getting a plant designed formally,” Hinkelman said.
Also during Monday’s meeting:
• The council entered into executive session to consider the purchase of property for public purposes, the sale of property at competitive building, or the sale or other disposition of unneeded, obsolete, or unfit-for-use. No action was taken.
• An open house will be held July 27, from 5 to 7 p.m., to collect opinions of residents regarding the School House Park project.
• Hinkelman noted the High Street utility project is complete, and came in under the engineer’s estimate. Hinkelman noted the roads will be repaved during the High Street reconstruction project in spring 2022. This will be an Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) project.
• Council now owns the Rudy property, and according to Hinkelman, the site will be secured by the end of the week with “No Trespassing” signs.
• The village’s biennial audit is complete and will be available on July 29.
The next village council meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 2, at 7 p.m.
