Clermont County and the Village of Batavia have approved an agreement that will merge the village water and sewer system into the county’s operations.

When Batavia becomes fully part of the county system, residential customers should see savings or 40 per cent or more on their bills, Mayor John Thebout said. The village has up to 10 years to upgrade some water mains, fix a list of inflow and infiltration problems, and get easements at eight locations where they are not recorded.

“My village administrator calculates a savings in the neighborhood of $300,000 a year, which would be about $500 per household,” Thebout said. “Clermont County gives us excellent service, and the same people will be doing the same work at the Water and Sewer District.”

Lyle Bloom, Director of Utilities in the Clermont County Water Resources Department, recommended approval of the contract, and the Board of Commissioners gave their unanimous okay at their September 24 meeting. The Batavia Village Council approved the agreement at their Sept. 8 session. The agreement takes effect Oct. 9.

Customers should not see any immediate changes, according to Mayor Thebout. Rates will remain unchanged. In the long term, however, village customers will get substantial savings on their monthly water and sewer bills.

Village Administrator Dennis Nichols said the operating savings will result from volume. He said the village will also avoid having to spend millions of dollars to upgrade its sewer plant.

“We are offering now to sell the village’s mothballed sewer-plant property to anyone who will tear it down,” Nichols said.

The village will replace $1 million worth of 4-inch unlined cast iron water mains to improve reliability and fire-suppression capacity, will do $410,500 in work on collection lines to stop inbound leaks into the sewers, and will pay $1 million in charges for wastewater treatment capacity. The annual contract for operations will be $283,400 the first year, increasing at 2 percent annually, plus water consumption charges, estimated at $140,000 the first year and tied to county rates, but with a 2 percent inflation cap.

Batavia and Clermont County have been operating under a three-year contract that took effect in January 2011.

The village has bought water from the county since the 1990s, distributing it through village pipes. The county and village diverted sewage flow from the Batavia sewer plant to the Middle East Fork Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2012 and mothballed the village plant in preparation for a final agreement.

“I want to thank the Clermont County Board of Commissioners and their staff for exemplary cooperation and support in putting together a long-term agreement with the Village of Batavia for water and sewer services,” Mayor Thebout said.