Washington County And Marietta Come Together On Sewer Deal

MARIETTA, OH — Today, all three of the Washington County Commissioners (Kevin Ritter, Charlie Schilling, and James Booth) joined with Marietta Mayor Josh Schlicher and Marietta Safety-Service Director Steve Wetz for a press event. They announced that the ongoing Marietta City lawsuit would be resolved with Washington County.

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This is a big step, the Devola sewer saga has been going on for the past decade, and the county has been at odds with the city for the past 7-8 years over this.

There is a lot to the story, but the main thing to remember is there had been an EPA order to sewer Devola. To put it simply, the order was questionable to say the least, so the county questioned it, but since it was an order Marietta City moved forward with massive upgrades to their wastewater treatment facility. They made massive and expensive improvements to the sewer system due to the environmental order so they could handle all the extra sewage flowing in from the 500+ homes that would be sewered in Devola.

Mayor Josh Schlicher described the resolution as a $3.3-million-dollar settlement. He said there would be a lump sum of $500,000 paid upfront, and the rest would be paid over 20-years. He said a 40-year agreement made by a previous board of commissioners will be nullified as a new 40-year agreement has been made.

Another important part of this settlement is that with the exception of Devola residents, it will be completely optional for folks to tap into the sewer system. The commissioners explained that there is an order from the EPA mandating Devola residents to tap in, but that's not the case for everyone else.

Part of the agreement hinges on the fact that the sewer system will be installed in Devola by late 2023. If it is not, the agreement reads that Washington County will start making payments to the City of Marietta in early 2024.

Commissioner Charlie Schilling says the agreement has them paying 0% interest. Commissioner James Booth says this will be saving Washington County $1.4-million-dollars.

"There is no mandatory hookup, there is no annexation, that is key to this."

There will be more details on this situation in the days and weeks to come.

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