Village looking in to smell from lagoons

FORT RECOVERY –– A strong stench has plagued the village recently.

For about the last six weeks, the lagoons off First Street near Wabash Road have been releasing a foul odor. The lagoons are regularly used for water treatment in the village and have only recently started to have issues with odor, according to village administrator Randy Diller. Fort Recovery village council members addressed the issue in a meeting Monday.

“As you can imagine, we’ve had some complaints lately, and rightfully so. I mean, I’m not backing away from the fact that they stunk pretty bad,” Diller said. He asked if any of the council noticed anything this weekend. Council member Luke Knapke said the inside of his truck smelled bad Monday morning.

“Last night might’ve been the worst it’s been, actually,” Knapke said. “It was really bad.”

“Friday was good –– Friday we had a good wind,” Mayor Dave Kaup added.

Lagoons tend to have a period in the spring and fall (usually two or three days) when there is a smell, Diller explained. Usually it’s not noticeable, he said, but along with the long-lasting stench, recent northeast winds blowing through the village have not helped, either.

Fort Recovery’s utility department is working with Air Diffusion Systems to solve the problem and has a plan to isolate what’s causing the smell.

Some residents, Diller said, have voiced a theory that it is the sludge creating an odor and want it to be removed.

“We don’t know that that’s the case,” Diller said. “It could be the type of sludge …”

The department plans to do testing to figure out the source and are using bacteria to reduce sludge as much as possible.

Also Monday, village council members Greg Schmitz, Erik Fiely, Cliff Wendel and Knapke, absent Scott Pearson and Al Post, approved a $41,924.40 draw request for PAB Construction of Coldwater, Ohio, for the Elm Street reconstruction project.

PAB began working on reconstruction of Elm at the end of March and estimates it will take between four and six weeks to complete.

The goal for reconstruction is that, once complete, Ohio Department of Transportation will reroute Ohio 49 along Broadway and Elm streets instead of its current path through the downtown area. Broadway Street reconstruction finished recently.

In other business, council

•Learned Diller extended an agreement for the village’s Natural Gas Aggregation Program for another two years starting in December at $3.03 per one thousand cubic feet.

•Heard new lights have been installed at Monument Park.

•Reported that Maharg’s Trash Service spring cleaning day is May 15.