This article is open to all free of cost, as the reporting for this entire series was made possible by a grant from the Poynter Institute with support from the Joyce Foundation.
Read all of our reporting on the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) impact in Ashland County here. And if you have any questions for the reporter, send him an email at dillon@ashlandsource.com.
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ASHLAND — The rest of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act money could go toward designing a sanitary sewer expansion project along U.S. Route 42.
Ashland City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to enter into a $425,000 contract with MS Consultants.
The Columbus-based firm will design a “sewer-trunk line extension” that will stretch from the city’s fire station at 42 and Mifflin Avenue to the interstate’s intersection with Middle Rowsburg Road — a four-mile distance.
The city’s ordinance states the firm’s price “shall not exceed $425,000.” Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said the city would probably use the rest of its ARPA money to cover the expense.
Ashland received a total of $2.1 million from ARPA, a federal stimulus bill delivered to state and local governments in 2021 and 2022 to stave the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
City financial records show Ashland still has $428,988 of its ARPA dollars unencumbered. ARPA rules state the money needs to be obligated, or encumbered, by Dec. 31 to avoid a clawback.
“This fits with everything that we’ve discussed up to this point,” Miller said. “That we want to use that money for projects that have a long-term benefit … for the future of our community.”
The rest of Ashland’s ARPA money has been spent on Claremont Avenue’s rehabilitation, repaving a section of State Route 96 (Sandusky Street), electric infrastructure in the Pump House District area and bonuses for city employees.
'Get our ducks in order'
The mayor said extending a sewer-trunk line within the U.S. Route 42 corridor would relieve pressure from the existing system on the southwest side of the city.
“That’s where most of our residential activity is,” he said.
But the project is strategic, too.
“It opens us up for future residential growth in that area,” Miller said, adding he knows one property owner is prospecting and surveying land currently for plans to build up to 400 housing units.
“The interest from outside developers is just amazing,” the mayor said. “We need to get our ducks in order so we have a utility system in place to accommodate future growth.”
Councilman Dan Lawson asked if the city is also considering a water-supply expansion in the same area.
The mayor said “that could be coming in the future as well.”
“We are taking a look at all those water lines,” he said. “But this is the pressing issue.”
MS Consultants will design the project, and it will also prepare a bid package and construction documents for contractors. Officials did not say how much the actual project will cost once it's designed.
Miller said the firm will begin work “ASAP,” but he did not know when the firm will complete the design phase.