Medina will tackle $1.2 million in sewer upgrades

MEDINA – The Medina sewer plant is in line for $1.2 million in upgrades whether the village government dissolves or not.

The Village Board voted on Monday to borrow $1.2 million in interest-free money from the state Environmental Facilities Corporation. The money will be paid back over 30 years from sewer users. The sewer project isn’t funded by property taxes or through the village’s general fund.

“We wouldn’t be assessing tax to support this,” Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said at Monday’s board meeting.

The sewer plant is one of the village’s economic assets, Meier said. The plant is currently underutilized. The village treats about 1 to 2 million gallons of sewage each day at the plant, which has a permitted capacity for 4.5 million gallons. The plant could handle even more, about 8 million gallons a day, he said.

The village will upgrade infrastructure and components at the site and also will boost the capacity to 10 or 11 million gallons with the $1.2 million project, Meier said.

That excess capacity could be used to attract big users in the village or the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway, he said. Village officials also are discussing providing sewer services to the Town of Alabama in Genesee County for the proposed STAMP project.

Meier sees Medina and the Route 63 corridor as ideally situated for STAMP-related businesses. Besides a close proximity to high-tech companies at STAMP – Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park – the Route 63 area is within a 30-mile radius for low-cost hydropower from the Niagara Power Project.

“This is very much a pro-economic development project,” Meier said about the upcoming sewer work. “It shows Medina is open for business.”

The village will be seeking bids for the project, which is expected to be complete in 2015.