County commissioners approve funding for waterline extension near Park Layne

A project to extend the waterline that runs near Park Layne will receive $800,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

The Board of Commissioners of Clark County on Wednesday authorized the allocation of funds for the project, which will stretch along state Route 235 to the intersection of U.S. Route 40.

The money is part of the $26 million allocated to Clark County from the $1.9 trillion ARPA that President Joe Biden signed into law in March. A total of $350 billion was allocated to help local governments across the country reeling from pandemic impact.

Clark County utilities director Chuck Bauer told the News-Sun that design work for the project is expected to begin this winter, with a goal of completing it by the end of 2022.

The project includes the installment of roughly a mile of 12-inch waterline, building off Park Layne’s water system and providing access to new customers along Route 235 between Bellefontaine Road and U.S. Route 40, Bauer said. The estimated cost of the project is roughly $740,000.

The project will lay the foundation for potential future work to serve the village of Donnelsville, which currently does not have a water system and whose residents primarily use private wells for water access, Bauer said.

“That could open up economic development big time,” said Commissioner Lowell McGlothin.

The commissioners have allocated more than $10 million in ARPA funds for various projects. That money is being used for the reimbursement to the general fund for pandemic-related losses in revenue, the reimbursement of employee paid administrative leave, the funding of technology for the county’s dispatch center, expected to open in 2022.

Commissioners also approved ARPA spending for a stormwater improvement project for Enon-Xenia Road to help alleviate flooding in the area and for a fiber optic project to service county-owned buildings, as well as a safety improvement project for Spangler Road.


By the Numbers:

800,000: The amount allocated by the Clark County Commission to the waterline extension project

235: The state route that the waterline runs along

26: The amount in millions allocated to Clark County through the American Rescue Plan Act

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