Several workers from Axis Civil Construction in Columbus poured concrete in 2017 for a new sidewalk along the east side of Winter Street, part of the Safe Routes to School project. (News archive photo by Diane Chiddister)
Village seeks state funds for sewers, sidewalks
- Published: February 17, 2026
With the help of state funds, Yellow Springs sidewalks and sewers could get some overdue maintenance in the future — that is, if the Village is willing to dip into its lean budget to help out.
That’s the hope of Village Manager Johnnie Burns, who at the last Village Council meeting, Monday, Feb. 2, was granted approval by Council to apply for a loan from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to help cover the costs of the Village’s ongoing evaluation of the Bryan Lift Station and its force main, as well as the wastewater plant.
In a memo to Council ahead of last week’s meeting, Burns wrote that work is being done to document existing conditions, identify potential improvements and assess planning needs for future capacity-related upgrades to the municipal wastewater systems.
It’s the state of the sewer force main — the Village’s pressurized pipe system that counteracts gravity and transports wastewater from lower to higher elevations — that keeps Burns up at night, he said, adding that no public works crew member has laid eyes on the force main since its installation in the 1970s.
To assess the work that needs to be done, Burn hopes to tap into the OEPA’s Water Pollution Control Loan Fund, or WPCLF, for an amount no more than $100,000.
A previous iteration of Council approved a resolution to authorize a planning loan of $59,000, but to allow for greater “flexibility should additional testing, analysis or unforeseen conditions arise during the evaluation,” Burns sought to increase the authorized loan cap by $41,000.
The loan “does not obligate the Village to draw or expend the full amount,” the memo reads, and if granted those dollars, the Village would only be responsible for “eligible project costs actually incurred and submitted for reimbursement.”
The memo also states: “Once the planning evaluation is completed, the WPCLF program allows the planning loan to transition directly into design-phase funding. Both planning and design loans carry a 0% interest rate and require semiannual payments equal to 1/40th of the eligible project costs for up to five years.”
Ahead of their vote to ultimately green light Burns’s request, some Council members expressed slight trepidation with the potential costs to the Village.
“This is emblematic of some of the challenges that we have,” Council President Gavin DeVore Leonard said. “Every one of the projects we end up talking about makes sense and sounds like a good thing to do, but we can only say ‘yes’ so many times.”
A similar decision was set to go before Council members at the group’s Tuesday, Feb. 17, meeting, with Council teed up to vote on a resolution that would allow Burns to apply for a grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation for sidewalk and pedestrian walkway improvements.
That resolution, however, was tabled for a later meeting.
Specifically, Burns wants to pursue $1 million from the Safe Routes to School program to build:
• An 11-foot-wide multimodal path on East Enon Road, in front of Yellow Springs Middle and High School, that would connect the Dayton Street sidewalk to Mary’s Way. This project would cost an estimated $854,038;
• A five-foot-wide sidewalk along Phillips Street, connecting West Limestone and Elm streets. This project would cost an estimated $208,989;
• Crosswalk enhancements — such as curb bump-outs, ramps, signage and intersection upgrades — near Mills Lawn and the high and middle schools. This project would cost an estimated $46,640.
• 50 bike racks at the middle and high schools. This project would cost an estimated $10,000.
All told, these four projects would cost $1,119,667; should the Village be awarded the $1 million in grant funding, the Village would be on the hook for nearly $120,000 remaining — a “local match” that Burns said would increase the Village’s likelihood of being awarded the funds by ODOT.
When Burns first presented this grant opportunity to Council at their Jan. 20 meeting, he said that, if awarded the funds, Yellow Springs wouldn’t see those projects realized until 2029.
Council member Carmen Brown said she would welcome the sidewalk improvements at each of the locations, in the interest of accessibility.
Striking a similar tone as in the other discussion, DeVore Leonard asked Burns if there was any way to “trim back” the requested local match — he wondered if the Village were to pursue just one or some of the four projects, would a match even be necessary?
Burns took note and will return with more information for the necessary vote at future Council meeting.
In other recent Council business—
• Village Council members unanimously agreed to adopt the updated 2025 Greene County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan as Yellow Springs’ own plan.
Published every five years by the Greene County Emergency Management Agency, and in step with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, the Hazard Mitigation Plan provides goals, strategies and plans for jurisdictions to address worse case scenarios and natural disasters — severe thunderstorms, extreme temperatures, tornados, flooding, earthquakes, acts of terror and more.
By adopting the county plan, Yellow Springs maintains compliance with federal requirements and is able to apply for federal funding in the event of a local disaster, according to a memo Burns provided Council.
Additionally, adoption of the plan allows the Village to pursue regional, state and federal grants and other funding sources to better prepare the physical structures of the village and its residents before disaster strikes.
• Village Council will soon adopt another new meeting procedure — this one affecting not just Council members, but also those who wish to participate in their meetings.
At the Feb. 17 meeting, Council members will give first reading to an ordinance that, upon passage after a second reading and public hearing, will move the citizen comments portion of the meeting before public hearings and legislation.
As Council members discussed at their retreat last month, this change allows citizens to air their views before Council members deliberate on matters, and potentially inform the ways they vote.
The next regular Village Council meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. — one day later than usual, owing to Presidents Day. The regular session will be preceded by a routine work session at 5 p.m. The public is welcome to attend, but will be unable to participate in the work session.
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