The Northwestern Water and Sewer District celebrates 30 years of operation this year. Wood County Common Pleas judge, the Honorable Charles Kurfess, approved the formation of what is now The District in the summer of 1993 after several years of planning and discussion.
The Ohio Revised Code has a section numbered 6119 that outlines the process of applying to become a regional water and sewer district organization. The application is then considered before a county common pleas court. Included in the application is the petition, the reason to form a district, and eventually, a plan of operations explaining how the organization would provide service.
When going through this process, we spent months reviewing our plan of operations, setup and staffing, and financial stability with stakeholders throughout the region. Overall, the Wood County Commissioners established a stable organizational framework to help us build upon it.
It was not an easy process. In the beginning, some political subdivisions had their own ideas on how to run and fund a public utilities department, set the board members, and make decisions. In these later years, our average water and sewer use has flattened or even reduced in areas as we are more conservative and more efficient in our usage. These factors complicate a funding need to “do more” with less usage overall. Trying to do more with less has been a challenge recently, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and even now dealing with the “post-pandemic” factors.
At The District, we think the need for water and sewer utilities is best done on a regional basis to control costs and operate efficiently. Every day, we are out in the system making improvements, repairs, and monitoring the needs of our water and sewer networks. When we first formed, our service area was smaller and more residential. Now we have grown and become more complex with development in all areas of our service, north-south-east-west!
Environmental protection regulations and laws, water quality sampling standards, and operator licensing have all improved, allowing for better results and have made a positive impact on our environment.
We believe we are better adept at doing this now than ever!
Thirty years have gone by quickly, and I have been here for all of it. What will be the needs of the next 30 years?
Jerry Greiner,
President, The Northwestern Water and Sewer District