By TODD HELBERG

cnedit@crescent-news.com

One Defiance sewer project is nearing completion, a second is about to start and preparation for a third is just beginning.

All three are part of a long-term Ohio EPA mandate to have combined sanitary and storm sewers eliminated in Defiance. These have the potential to allow raw sewage to enter local waterways during heavy rain events.

According to city engineering technician Scott Knepley, the first project -- in and around Defiance's downtown area as far south as Fourth Street -- should be completed by the end of August by Gleason Construction, Holland. Remaining work includes construction of new sewers on Perry Street, lining old ones on Perry and Clinton streets, resurfacing damaged pavement and seeding grass.

Knepley said Monday that crews were just finishing the installation of new sewers on Kahlo Street and will move down Perry Street toward Defiance Stamping. Perry has been closed for several weeks where work is occurring, but should be reopened soon for good.

New sanitary sewers have already been installed on Wayne and Jefferson avenues. In those areas, the old sanitary sewers will be used as storm sewers.

A meeting for property owners affected by sewer lining on Clinton Street is scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday in the city service building, 631 Perry. Reynolds Inliner, a subcontractor to the general contractor, will explain the work, scheduled to begin next week.

Reynolds will install a plastic liner in Clinton's aging sewers to extend their life. However, this will require temporarily closing sewer laterals for hours, which figures to impact some downtown businesses.

A second similar project further south will begin early next month, Knepley explained, with completion expected in June 2009.

Storm and sanitary sewers will be constructed in an area bounded by Fourth Street on the north, the Auglaize River on the east, Wayne Avenue on the west and Williams Street on the south.

But on Washington and Riverside avenues, work will extend a bit further south. It will also go as far west as Clinton Street in one area for construction of a new storm sewer.

Like the first project, this one will also require property owners to remove clean water connections from the sewer system. This required an evaluation process in which the project engineer (Arcadis of Toledo) visited each property owner to locate the connections.

Underground Utilities Inc., Monroeville, will be the contractor for this project and will begin moving equipment in later this month, according to Knepley. Work will begin during the first week in August on Riverside Avenue, he said.

While the estimated cost was $5.5 million, the contract came in at $5,047,000.

The work will include rehabbing the sanitary sewer on Riverside Avenue; replacing aging sanitary sewers on Washington Avenue, Myers Street, Riverside Avenue and Williams Street; constructing sanitary sewers on Wayne Avenue, Fourth Street, Jefferson Avenue, Fifth Street, Washington Avenue and Arabella Street; installing new storm sewers on Clinton and Arabella streets; and modifying a pumping station.

While City Hall deals with these two projects, it's just beginning preparations for another one, which is expected to begin in May 2009.

This one primarily addresses combined storm and sanitary sewers on Holgate Avenue.

Knepley said a meeting is scheduled for affected property owners on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the city service building. They, too, will be required to remove clean water connections from the city's sewer system.

All the above projects are part of a 20-year plan to remove more than 44 combined storm and sanitary sewers throughout the city. Debt service on those projects will be repaid through sewer rate increases.