Officials expect repairs to the Lucas County Recreation Center’s collapsed pipes to begin next month, alleviating what Maumee representatives describe as an excessive amount of water being discharged into that city’s sanitary sewer system.
However, city and county officials are nowhere near as close to resolving a disputed $1 million bill from the city of Maumee for sanitary sewer outflow charges from the county’s Rec Center for 2022 and a portion of 2021. Maumee Mayor Richard Carr is predicting a looming legal fight over the matter.
Lucas County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously voted to approve an almost $189,000 bid from Monclova company Innovaliner, Inc., the only bidder for the job, to repair the Rec Center’s sanitary sewer lines.
County sanitary engineer Jim Shaw said the company is expected to start work in February and that it should take roughly two weeks.
Mr. Shaw said following the meeting that flow monitors installed by Maumee officials in 2021 and last summer in outfall drains from the property at Key Street and Michigan Avenue.
He said through those meter readings, county officials discovered old piping was contributing to water runoff into the sanitary sewer system. The water that far exceeded the amount being used at the site, particularly when it was raining.
But he and Lucas County commissioners president Pete Gerken have doubts about how much overflow from the Rec Center is truly causing Maumee’s readings.
Mr. Shaw said the county is awaiting information.
“We're just trying to figure out how they calculated it, versus us comparing the calculations,” Mr. Shaw said. “So we've asked them some questions. We sent those to them in mid-December, and we’re waiting to hear back from them.”
After the meeting, Mr. Gerken emphasized that commissioners are willing to pay whatever is owed for the sewer outflow from the Rec Center. He’s skeptical of Maumee’s projected $1 million and believes Maumee officials have overestimated how much is coming from the county-owned 73-acre parcel in the city limits.
“Our position is we’ll pay what we owe, but we’re not going to pay what we don't owe,” Mr. Gerken said.
Mayor Carr said the city’s meters are state-of-the art. They are, he said, the same type of meters that the Lucas County Sanitary Sewer District uses to track and bill Maumee, which is charged for treatment services based on the amount of water going to the plant.
He said the only difference is that Maumee’s meters are newer and more advanced.
“They were provided the information they requested, and we haven't got any responses,” Mr. Carr said on Tuesday. “And the bill is calculated the same way we calculate all of our residents and businesses in Maumee. There's no difference on what we're doing.”
He said Maumee is in a similar situation with the city of Toledo concerning a sewer connection near Detroit Avenue. Maumee is billing Toledo roughly $500,000 for what Maumee officials describe as an excessive amount of storm water infiltrating the sanitary sewer system. So far Toledo officials haven’t paid or indicated whether they would, he said.
Toledo officials couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.
Mr. Carr said if the matter isn’t resolved soon, Maumee City Council members will have to consider filing suit against both Toledo and Lucas County to recover the amount owed.
“We've sent the bills and we've received no payments,” he said. “We're at a standstill because they simply are not paying.”
In other business Tuesday, commissioners unanimously elected Mr. Gerken to serve as the board’s president for the year. Other board members are commissioners Tina Skeldon Wozniak and Lisa Sobecki, who is starting her first term.
The commissioners also unanimously agreed to seek bids for architectural and engineering services for a comprehensive building renovation at 1301 Washington St. The structure is eventually to be used as the county’s new facilities building.
Staff Writer Nancy Gagnet contributed to this story.
First Published January 3, 2023, 11:09 p.m.
