Bucyrus City Council Service Committee discusses possibilities of water line expansion

By Jordan Studer
CCN Reporter

BUCRYUS — The Bucyrus City Council Service Committee held a special meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the city’s possible options to expand their reach of water lines into more rural locations. Committee member, Dan Wirebaugh, explained that many rural area residents want to have water sent out to them.

Northern Ohio Rural Water (NORW), a public entity that focuses on bringing clean and safe water to rural areas, has agreed to supply water to several areas in the county in need of a water supply. Bucyrus City Council wanted to be able to provide water for some of those areas where Bucyrus water lines could easily be expanded.

The purpose of the meeting was to speak with Northern Ohio Rural Water representative, Shawn Tappel, to see if a deal could be made for Bucyrus to provide water, at no cost to the city, for areas that had reached out to NORW.

A negotiation such as this could help NORW reach their clientele while Bucyrus is able to provide water, without taking customers from NORW. Tappel presented to the committee a map of the area which his company is looking to reach, many in Liberty Township. The exact areas Bucyrus is targeting is still in the works. According to Wirebaugh, the city would like to expand to Crestline Road, as well as other areas.

Tappel explained that although NORW would love to do business with Bucyrus, they are not willing to pay the price the city is asking. Tappel said that a cost more than $2.70 per 1,000 gallons of water would not be acceptable, since NORW is a public entity.

“We are all stewards of the citizens. We’re all supposed to be doing what we think is in the best interest of the citizens,” Tappel said. “I know I can get water to these people, it’s what we do for a living.”

It was further explained by Tappel that a negotiation such as this would not cost the City of Bucyrus a dime. Wirebaugh’s big concern is Bucyrus losing coverage of areas that are near the city limits that could be easily supplied by the city rather than NORW. Tappel assured Wirebaugh and the committee that if those areas would ever become part of Bucyrus, even if NORW supplied them water, all other rights would belong to the city.

With the apparent hesitation from the committee, Tappel explained that if Bucyrus doesn’t want to make a deal, NORW is planning on opening the project up for bids to ensure the people are reached.

“We’re not going to back away from the obligations we already have,” Tappel said. “These people asked us to go, and we are going, we’re not going to stop. And if someone else asks us in this area and it looks feasible to us, we will do it.”

Since NORW and the City of Bucyrus are both wanting to expand their respective water supply footprints, Wirebaugh and another committee member, Andrew Schoch, proposed the idea of an additional negotiation. With the proposal, essentially Bucyrus would help provide water to NORW for certain areas, and in turn they would be guaranteed areas they could supply to near the city limits.

Tappel said that NORW would be more than willing to discuss this idea further and make a deal, should the city decide to agree to the price that NORW is setting.

After hearing from Tappel, the committee decided there needed to be further discussion and research. Therefore, no action was taken during the meeting.