Mineral City, Ohio - Upgrades to the Sandyville/East Sparta Wastewater Treatment Plant are nearly complete, and the Tuscarawas County Metropolitan Sewer District will be marking the occasion with public ceremony later this week.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, October 18, beginning at 1 p.m. at the treatment plant at 4489 Dover-Zoar Road NE in Mineral City. 

During the event, the community will have an opportunity to learn about the nearly $2.8 million infrastructure improvement project that was completed in partnership with the Stark County Commissioners and the Stark County Sanitary Engineers Department.
Mike Jones is the director of the Tuscarawas County Metropolitan Sewer District. He explains the need for improvements to the treatment plant, which was originally constructed in 1979.  

“There have been no major significant upgrades to the plant since then, so a lot of the plant was in a deteriorating condition. The major component of this project was bringing old components back into compliance,” he says.  “A lot of the equipment was well beyond its useful life and should have been replaced some time ago.”

Jones says the project included the replacement of several clarifiers and the addition of a headworks building and a sludge de-watering facility. He says those improvements will increase the operational efficiency of the plant that currently serves about 1,000 customers in the areas of Sandyville, East Sparta and the Sandy Valley crossroads. 

Jones notes that the cost of the project was split between the two counties and was offset with $524,000 in state grant funding from the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) and Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).

He says the ceremony will give the district an opportunity to celebrate the success of the project and thank its project partners.

“We had so many partners in this, and I thought it was just a good opportunity to extend our thanks to everyone that helped us along the way on this,” he says. “It’s been a very successful project, and we’re very happy to see the results that it will bring for us.”

Partners for the project, in addition to the Stark County Commissioners and Stark County Sanitary Engineers Department, OPWC, and ARC, include the Ohio EPA Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance, Ohio Water Development Authority, Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association and Ohio Rural Community Assistance Partnership.

Anyone with questions about the project or the upcoming ceremony is invited to contact Jones at 330-874-3262 ext. 302 or mjones.tcmsd@gmail.com.

STACEY CARMANY, TUSCO TV