

PROJECTS ONGOING … A construction company is currently finishing sand blasting the water tower (pictured). The final part of the project will then be painting a mural on the outside of the water tower. The water tower is one of six major projects that the village of Edgerton is currently involved with.
By: Daniel Cooley
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
The Edgerton Finance Committee held a meeting on July 13. Committee members in attendance were Jason Gruver, Lance Bowsher and Chuck Wallace.
Also in attendance were Mayor Robert Day, Village Administrator Dawn Fitzcharles and village Fiscal Officer Denise Knecht.
The village of Edgerton currently has six major projects that are ongoing. Two of those, the Edgerton Metals project and the Oak Street project, are fully funded.
The Oak Street project, at a cost of $154,000, will be completed in 2024. Edgerton Metals, at a cost of $4,957,500, has a tentative completion date of 2025.
To note, these two projects, as well as the other four projects, are not final prices. The prices of the projects will be subject to change and will be finalized by 2026.
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) project, at an estimated cost of $7,560,850, is tentatively to be completed in 2025. A grant of $7,063,002 was awarded for this project.
The project also has a match by the village of $398,000. This project includes several new sidewalks constructed within the village, as well as some new crosswalks.
The FEMA AFG Grant is for a specific apparatus that is needed for the Firefighters and was a grant for $299,000. This apparatus should be in and ready to go by 2024.
The Main Lift Station, a sewer rehabilitation project, should be completed by 2026. The project, at a tentative cost of $805,600, has a grant of $405,600 and a matching total of $400,000.
The other project, involving the water tower, should be completed by 2025. The water tower, located on Indiana Avenue, has passed all the needed inspections thus far.
The project has an estimated cost of $681,490, with a grant award of $275,000 and a matching local total of $100,000.

The water tower is currently being sand blasted and then the mural will be painted on the outside of the water tower.
The water tower should be functional by the end of the month. Then, the inspector will come back within one years’ time and the tower will be drained at that time, for another inspection.
The matching total of the six projects comes close to one million dollars, roughly $913,000, but Fitzcharles said that she anticipates that the matching totals will be considerably less than that.
Three of these major projects, then, ODOT, Edgerton Metals and the Main Lift Station, will extend into at least 2025.
Two of the projects, the ODOT and water tower, when completed, will give the village of Edgerton a much higher rating. Currently, the village, in walkability and safety, ranks low.
But the ODOT project should give the village one of the higher rankings in the county, regarding walkability and safety. The water tower project should also give the water quality in the village a much higher rating.
Edgerton is able to work on all these projects because of several grants that were approved, as well as the village’s current cash balance situation. That current amount is $847,000. Just eight years ago, in 2015, the cash balance was $350,000.
Dan can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com