Important preparatory work is being done to prepare for the possible construction of a new sewer line in Madison Township.
Efforts are currently underway to obtain easements from property owners for a section of Route 20 where the new sewer system is to be installed.
An easement is the legal right to use a portion of a property owned by someone else. For this project in Madison Township, the Lake County Utilities Department is seeking to acquire easements for portions of property off Route 20 that are needed for the installation of the proposed sewer line.
These easements also authorize the department to access, maintain, and repair the sewer system after completion.
Plans call for the sewer line, which will be nearly a mile long, to be built on Route 20 from just west of Green Road to just west of Haines Road. Councilors believe the installation of the sewer line will attract new businesses and strengthen the community’s economy.
Barrington Consulting Group is working on behalf of the Lake County Utilities Department to reach agreements with property owners to obtain the easements. The municipality has also hired Barrington, a Mentor-based engineering firm, to design the wastewater project.
“Once the vast majority of these (easement acquisitions) are completed, a public hearing will be scheduled with the Lake County Commissioners, and they will decide at that time whether or not to move forward with the project based on the response they receive at the public hearing,” Township Administrator Tim Brown said at a recent Board of Trustees meeting. “The hearing is about two to three months away.”
The estimated cost of the proposed wastewater project is approximately $4.7 million.
Madison Township and Lake County commissioners have partnered to allocate $2.6 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to the initiative. The remaining costs would be covered by levies paid by property owners along Route 20 from just west of Green to just west of Haines.
