Peninsula has cash to construct sewers at last, and ripple effects could lower Akron costs
Peninsula is finally on track to develop a long-sought sanitary sewer system with a financial boost from Summit County.
The village's recent acceptance into the Summit County Metropolitan Sewer District also could improve Akron's chance of striking a deal with federal officials to lower the city's cost to comply with a consent decree that has already required taxpayers to foot the bill for more than $1 billion in sewer overhaul projects.
The county has designated $7.5 million from its American Rescue Plan Act funds to help build a wastewater treatment facility in Peninsula. The plant would keep septic tank runoff from polluting the Cuyahoga River. Akron officials have said the project — along with other proposed actions — will eliminate the need for a pricy new wastewater treatment facility that is currently part of the federal mandate.