Changes needed for taxpayers' sakes

With the impending release of the Erie County Blue Ribbon Commission report, we are excited to begin the work of substantively reforming government to provide taxpayers with needed relief, while having a bigger impact with existing revenue. One of the major challenges our community has faced over the past several decades is a dysfunctional, inefficient system to provide sewer and water services to residents. With a blueprint provided by the Blue Ribbon Commission, we believe there is an enormous opportunity to establish more cooperation among local governments to make a meaningful difference for our residents. The current system of sewer and water in Erie County holds our community back in significant ways. The cities of Sandusky, Huron, and Vermilion as well as Northern Ohio Rural Water operate separate water facilities. The cities of Sandusky and Vermilion, and Erie County operate wastewater treatment plants to treat and dispose of sewage. And all of these entities maintain water and/or sewer lines and would be responsible separately for any possible expansion. All of these entities have overwhelming challenges with the aging infrastructure of these systems. The US EPA and Ohio EPA have identified significant needs for many of the facilities and lines. Because of this, the Erie County Commissioners have invested tens of millions of dollars above and beyond to maintain and improve our infrastructure. Other entities have as well to a significant degree, including the city of Sandusky. The Blue Ribbon Commission identified this as a major topic of study. The compartmentalized approach is extremely inefficient. It often pits one local governing entity against another, which we have seen play out time and again. This has led to lawsuits and much wasted time and expense over decades. The cost of this inefficient system is almost incalculable. We've seen continuous water and sewer rate increases in some areas, including a nearly doubling of rates in a short period of time. We've seen other local entities that have been put under significant findings and orders from the EPA. These high utility rates, along with the highly bureaucratic process at times, discourages investment in the county. Just in the last year, we have seen the inefficient process of having to work through multiple systems inhibit several development opportunities. For too long, we've approached this problem town by town, but it's time to tackle this as a community. Changing the status quo will be very difficult. The logistics of these sewer and water systems are extremely complex. All entities carry risk because of their aging infrastructure. Any yet, keeping the status quo will continue to hurt our ratepayers and impede future development opportunities. Many surrounding communities, including Wood County, Avon Lake, and many others have figured out how to regionalize their sewer and water systems. We are not sure what is entirely possible in Erie County today. Instead of trading pointless editorials back and forth in the newspaper, it's time for elected leaders to put differences aside to collaborate on these issues. A new vision on sewer and water would be a generational change that could greatly benefit residents, current businesses, and all those who want to do business in Erie County. To this effect, we are encouraged by the Blue Ribbon's recommendation to undergo a feasibility study into what might be possible for our local governments in Erie County. We hope that local government partners will join us in cooperating in this study. Pat Shenigo, Matt Old, and Steve Shoffner Erie County Commissioners