Appropriations

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will continue fighting to ensure we reduce wasteful spending while maintaining investments that create jobs and promote economic development in Ohio. 

Senator Brown requested the following projects to the Senate Committee on Appropriations for consideration.

2011 Water Resources Development Projects

Project: Arbaugh-Hope Water Project
Recipient: Vinton County, Ohio
Amount: $1,000,000
Location: Vinton County, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:

This project will enable the extension of rural waterlines into the remaining unserved areas of eastern Vinton County.  Private wells in this area are unreliable and contaminated with coliform bacteria and high levels of iron, calcium, sulfur and other minerals. This project will give the local residents a reliable, affordable source of potable water.

Project: Belpre, Ohio Riverfront Park
Recipient: City of Belpre
Amount: $10,000,000
Location: Belpre, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:

This project will meet the demand for river-oriented recreation facilities in Belpre.  The riverfront park would provide direct access from Belpre to Blennerhassett Island State Park in West Virginia via watercraft using the proposed docking facility at the riverfront park.

Project: Blanchard River Watershed Flood Risk Management and Ecosystem Restoration
Recipient: City of Findlay and Village of Ottawa, Ohio
Amount: $100,000,000
Location: Hancock and Putnam Counties, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:
The City of Findlay (Hancock County) and the Village of Ottawa (Putnam County) are seeking a WRDA authorization for Flood Risk Management and Ecosystem Restoration projects in the Blanchard River Watershed for planning, design, and construction of projects for Flood Risk Management and Ecosystem Restoration.

Project: Cuyahoga River Restoration and High Performance Shoreline Management
Recipient: Cuyahoga County
Amount: $5,000,000
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:  Cuyahoga County and its community partners are developing and testing a long-term Cuyahoga River Restoration and High Performance Shoreline Management System that would provide for a sustainable, lower cost, high performance, and more environmentally friendly river edge for the important navigation channel of the Cuyahoga River.  The Cuyahoga River Restoration and High Performance Shoreline Management Project, is part of a comprehensive strategy for restoring the environmental health of the Great Lakes while strengthening the economic value of navigable bodies of water such as the Cuyahoga River.  The proposal supports business and job development as part of an overall effort to regenerate the environmental and economic vitality of the lower Cuyahoga Valley.  

Project: Environmental Restoration and Flood Damage Reduction Project, NE Ohio
Recipient: Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
Amount: $11,496,050
Location: Cuyahoga and Summit Counties
Description and interest of taxpayer:  The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has initiated a comprehensive new program to better manage the impact of wet weather on the local regional drainage system and natural water resources.  This project is a combination of repair, environmental restoration, and flood reduction projects.  

The overall community benefit is the protection and renewal of existing infrastructure, with the associated cost savings of rehabilitation versus complete reconstruction; reduction of erosion flood damage and future maintenance; and improved water quality
Project: Hocking River Ecosystem Restoration, Monday Creek
Recipient: Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Amount: $21,000,000
Location: Athens, Perry, and Hocking Counties, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:  Severe acid mine drainage (AMD) has degraded the watershed and a number of stream reaches are sterile and unable to support aquatic life. The project consists of the construction of ecosystem restoration treatments within the Monday Creek Watershed to remove over 3,000 tons of acid load per year. To restore the ecosystem, it is recommended to construct features including: filling of subsidences, plugging stream captures, creating wetlands, constructing low head dams, installing a lime doser, and constructing limestone leach beds, slag leach beds, and open limestone channels.

Project: Lick Run CSO Reduction and Bio-retention Projects
Recipient: Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati
Amount: $2,000,000
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:

This project is integral to MSDGC’s Combined Sewer Overflow reduction efforts for the Lower Mill Creek Partial Remedy and totals $4 million for the design, construction and retrofit of existing stormwater detention basins throughout the watershed; this funding request is for $2 million, half of the amount needed to construct the detention basin element of the plan.  The overall concept of this project is simple; utilize stormwater detention practices to capture stormwater runoff from the upper portions of the watershed before the stormwater reaches the combined sewers and causes sewage overflows; the basins are part of a larger project that will remove them completely from the combined sewer system after construction of a separate storm sewer system and urban stream channel.


Project: Little Cuyahoga Ecosystem Restoration
Recipient: City of Akron
Amount: $9,500,000
Location: Akron, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:
This project eliminates the combined sewer overflow to the Little Cuyahoga River from the CSO Rack 13 and 21 drainage areas. It involves the construction of approximately 5,800 feet and 9,600 feet of sewer, respectively, the reconstruction of the existing combined sewer to serve as a separate sewer and construction of green infrastructure (rain gardens, permeable pavement, etc.) as appropriate.

The Little Cuyahoga River is classified as a warm water habitat stream with a primary contact designation is a major sub-basin of the Cuyahoga River. The Cuyahoga River is a National Heritage River and is located upstream of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This project provides an opportunity to improve water quality and reduce the bacteria loading by eliminating 2 overflow locations and 1.9 million gallons of combined sewer overflow.    


Project: Maumee River Basin and Bay, Ohio
Recipient: Toledo-Lucas Port Authority
Amount: $60,000,000
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:  This authorization will support the construction of a large scale project to use dredged material from the federally managed channel and to construct a habitat restoration in Western Lake Erie. This habitat restoration unit is a priority for the Ohio EPA, ODNR, Toledo Lucas County Port Authority and other various environmental groups as a way of disposing of the dredged material from the federal channel.

Project: Ohio Riverfront, Cincinnati Ohio
Recipient: City of Cincinnati  
Amount: $50,000,000
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:  Request would expand the scope of the Cincinnati Riverfront Park project to include bank stabilization improvements to segments of the Ohio River bank in the proximity of the Roebling Suspension Bridge and credit locally funded planning, design and construction activities supporting the project and presently underway or pending.

Project: Ohio River Basin Infrastructure Plan
Recipient: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Amount: $16,000,000
Location: The Ohio River Basin encompasses all or portions of the 15 States of IL, IN, OH, PA, NY, WV, VA, NC, KY, TN, AL, MS, GA, SC, and MD
Description and interest of taxpayer:
This project would authorize preparation of an Ohio River Basin Infrastructure Reinvestment Plan. The proposed legislative action would provide authority for preparation of a strategic plan, in collaboration with other agencies and local interests, to address needed reinvestment.
The system of water resource management projects within the Ohio River Basin protects hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars of private and public property. Constructed since the late 1930’s, this system is beginning to show signs of materials and equipment deterioration associated with continuous operation under extreme conditions. Long-term system sustainability issues have arisen across the basin.

Project: Riverbed Slope Stabilization Plan
Recipient: City of Cleveland
Amount: $100,000,000
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:  The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) informed the City of Cleveland of serious potential for catastrophic embankment and bulkhead failures along with navigable sections of the Cuyahoga River.  The purpose of this project is to address the serious potential for catastrophic embankment and bulkhead failures as articulated by the USACE.  This failure is due to the progressive deterioration readily apparent along Riverbed Street, where over 3,000 feet of roadway is closed as a result of the horizontal displacement and buckling (slippage).  The roadway has dropped over 18 inches in less than seven (7) months; in addition, there is also 1,300 linear feet of a five foot diameter brick interceptor sewer, which is located 25 feet below Riverbed Street, which is structurally distressed.

A sudden and large scale failure of the hillside could be life threatening to the hundreds of residents living in Cuyahoga County Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) properties along Franklin Road.  It could also block the navigation in the Cuyahoga River for an extended period of time and have severe economic impacts to local shipping industry, river dependent organizations and the City of Cleveland.

Project: Sidney New Source Water Project
Recipient: City of Sidney
Amount: $23,000,000
Location: Sidney, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:  The City of Sidney’s raw water supply comes from the Great Miami River. Sidney’s Water Treatment Plant currently produces about 4 MGD (million gallons per day) of water for its customers. Over 40% of the water produced is used by local industrial customers and the lack of available water during drought conditions severely threatens the City’s industrial and job base. Future economic growth in Shelby County is heavily dependent on developing a new reliable water source for the community.

The “Sidney New Water Source Project” involves the development of a 10 million gallon per day wellfield and construction of 7.8 miles of raw water transmission main. According to preliminary engineering, the proposed site for the alternate water supply has a more than sufficient capacity to meet the needs of other communities including the City of Piqua and other Shelby County interests.  Economic development is primary benefit of the “Sidney New Water Source Project,” with the potential for hundreds of short-term jobs and thousands of long-term jobs.    

Another regional benefit is the potential development of a nature trail, as this project’s 30 inch water transmission main may be placed in the abandoned State Canal Right-Of-Way. The Canal towpath could be connected with the Buckeye Trail System, enhancing outdoor opportunities for the region.  Finally, the two low head sheet pile dams on the Miami River and Tawawa Creek could be removed.


Project: Stark County Flood Reconnaissance Study
Recipient: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Amount: $1,000,000    
Location: Stark County, Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:  A county wide study to identify the opportunities to reduce chronic flooding and improve environmental infrastructure and ecosystem restoration opportunities.  Preliminary reconnaissance indicates numerous opportunities for flood damage reduction, environmental infrastructure enhancement, re-establishment of riparian corridors, and habitat restoration. Potential flood damages easily exceed tens of millions of dollars for events more frequent than the 1% annual (100-year) event.


Project: Western Lake Erie Basin Implementation Language
Recipient: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Amount: $100,000,000    
Location: Northwest Ohio
Description and interest of taxpayer:  The Army Corps of Engineers in consultation with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and various other federal agencies have completed a watershed management plan for the region. Now that this study process is complete, implementation authority is necessary to construct the projects recommended in the completed  report that will improve water quality in the Basin.

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