A decision needs to be made by July, utilities superintendent Dennis White said. White said the village will lose the funding if it doesn't do the upgrade. He said it's unknown if Issue II funds would be available for the new plant. There is no guarantee of any grant funding, he said. An option that is always available is a loan through the Ohio Water Development Authority.
Funds are available at a slightly lower interest rate than through a bank.
The problem with OWDA funds, White said, is the loan can't be paid off early if money becomes available. A bond issue or a rate increase could also be possible. Whatever the funding source White said something has to be done at some point. If nothing is done the existing plant will eventually reach or exceed capacity and no new customers will be allowed to connect to the water system. If the current plant exceeds its capacity on a regular basis or exceeds levels on things such as iron or manganese on a regular basis there will be problems.