Devola sewer project to get additional $10 million from Ohio

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ohio (WTAP) - After years of public comment, customer opposition to public agencies and court battles, the installation of a public sewer system in the village of Devola appears about to happen.

“There was a court order for it to get sewered,” County Commissioner Charles Schilling said Wednesday at an appearance by Gov. Mike DeWine. “Our job at that point was in gaining as much funding as we could, not only for the residents of Devola, but for the residents of Washington County who are affected by this project.”

And thanks to a program promoted by DeWine, the project is getting $10 million. That’s nearly 2/3 of the construction costs.

The governor says it’s not aimed specifically at small communities, but the program known as H2Ohio is definitely including parts of Appalachia.

Also getting money: a water line project for the Tuppers Plains water system in Meigs County, and a water project for the area on the Morgan County side of Burr Oak State Park.

“If we take care of the infrastructure and do what we need here, we can grow jobs in this part of the state as well as we can grow them in any other part of the state,” DeWine said. “But we have to take care of business, and that’s the job of the governor and the job of the legislature, and we think this is a good start.”

There’s hope that, if the federal infrastructure bill is finally approved, money from that legislation will put Washington County over the top on the project cost.

Said Commissioner James Booth: “Your board is committed to seek any funding available for the benefit of Devola and Washington County.”

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Washington County gets $10 million in Ohio funding for construction of a sewer system for the village of Devola.

That was announced Tuesday by the office of Gov. Mike Dewine, who is to come to Washington County Wednesday to formally announce the funding.

County Commission President Kevin Ritter calls the news “overwhelming”, and says the county has now received 90% of the funding it needs for the estimated project cost.

The grant is part of $93 million the state of Ohio is awarding for drinking and wastewater projects.

Washington County earlier this month received $750,000 in funding for the Devola project. Ritter has said bids for the project are to be opened in early 2022.

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