County looking into regional services

PERKINS TWP. — Could a collaborative approach to water and sewer operations occur in Erie County? It's possible. Last week, Erie County administrator Hank Solowiej sent a letter to leaders of three local cities — in Sandusky, Huron and Vermilion — who individually oversee water and/or sewer plants about pursuing this option. Solowiej referenced a recommendation coming from the Erie County Blue Ribbon Commission, a volunteer task force assigned to find efficiencies and eliminate redundancies within government in hopes of saving taxpayer dollars. "A regionalized water and sewer district presents significant opportunities for cost savings through shared resources, operations and coordinated infrastructure investment," according to Solowiej's letter to Sandusky city manager John Orzech, Huron interim city manager Stu Hamilton and Vermilion Mayor Jim Forthofer. On behalf of the county commissioners, "I would like to gauge your interest in participating in this study," Solowiej said. Water and sewer plants are among the most expensive operations for any municipal government. When examining the 2025 budgets for each, these three cities are on track to collectively spend about $65 million in 2025. Theoretically, combining four utility systems into one would save a ton of money, county commissioner Matt Old said. "The obvious inefficiencies of our community's approach to water and sewer was one of the major findings of the blue ribbon commission," said Old, noting these governments aren't forced to make any decisions based on blue ribbon recommendations. "I support the recommendation of the commission to study how our system might work better," Old added. "It will be quite an undertaking, but it's our hope that the county, city of Sandusky and others can partner with an independent group to do a deep dive," Old said. "Only then will we know what is possible to provide the best quality service to residents at the most efficient price." Solowiej gave each leader of these three political subdivisions until Sept. 5 to respond if any is interested in participating in this process. This would involve a neutral third party going through a city's plant operations to determine how a regional approach for water and sewer could work.