Council approves payment for work on tower

The foundation for Fort Recovery’s new water tower is nearly complete.

Next steps include installing water line material and finishing the structure.

Fort Recovery Village Council agreed Monday to pay $81,346.56 to Caldwell Tanks for its work on constructing a second water tower in the village.

Fort Recovery received a $1.25 million grant in June 2023 from Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure program for the tower. It also received a $600,000 allocation in June of this year from the One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund, which is a part of the main Ohio capital budget.

The new 250,000-gallon elevated tower is planned for the north side of the village and includes an additional 2,600 feet of water line to connect it to the village’s distribution system.

Village administrator Randy Diller noted the foundation for the project is mostly complete with pipes extending out of the tower. Material for the water line is expected to arrive this week. The company plans to begin installing water lines for the project next week.

Although the tower won’t be functioning yet — its completion is projected for July — the installation will serve to create a loop in the town’s water lines.

Steel for the project should arrive at the beginning of next year, with construction to begin shortly after its delivery. 

Council members Erik Fiely, Scott Pearson, Luke Knapke and Al Post, absent Cliff Wendel and Greg Schmitz, approved the pay request. (Diller noted they would need at least one more voting member in order to vote on advancing the dollars from one fund to another. Plans are to approve a resolution to that effect at council’s next meeting Nov. 18.)

Also Monday, council heard about a recent meeting between Diller and a representative of Miami Valley Lighting for the village’s street light agreement, which is set to expire at the end of the year. 

He noted the company would not consider selling the village the remaining 75 lights the company owns, but it offered to convert lights to LEDs at no cost to the village — previously it cost $40 per light — and reduce LED monthly pricing from $15.21 to $13.52. It would require the village to keep those lights through the term of a five-year contract. Also, in the new contract village employees wouldn’t be allowed to remove lights, instead requiring the company to do the service for a fee, and in five years if the village chooses not to renew the contract, the village would pay for 100% of costs associated with removing lights. (In the current contract, the village and Miami Valley Lighting split the cost.)

Diller said he would continue to work with the company for a solution in coming months.

In other business, council:

•Heard Ohio Rural Water Association visited the village’s wastewater lagoons last week. Diller noted the company plans to wait a few more weeks before conducting sonar testing.

•Were reminded about Fort Recovery Merchants Association’s Christmas Open House slated for Nov. 14 through Nov. 17 around the village.