ARCANUM — All eyes were on the village of Arcanum during an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new wastewater treatment plant Tuesday afternoon.
Village council members Bonnie Millard, Blaine Vencill, and Tim Philpot, along with Fiscal Officer, Toni Stanley, were in attendance. Utility personnel, members of the community, and other individuals integral to the vision and construction of the new plant were also present during the event.
Arcanum Village Mayor Greg Baumle began the ceremony with a moment of silence for the victims of the Dayton shooting from Sunday, before introducing Mike Bruns, engineer, with Mote and Associates Inc.
Though ground was officially broken in 2017, the new plant was seven to eight years in the making, said Bruns. He went on to explain they worked against not only time but the weather with those in attendance for the ribbon-cutting having some sort of impact on the $8,846,000 project.
According to material provided during the event, Mote and Associates Inc. successfully obtained a grant and low-interest loan funds broken down as follows:
Grant funds: $3,450,000
Loan funds: $5,250,000 (40 years at 2 percent interest)
Village funds: $146,000
Building Crafts Inc. did construction with Bruns noting their tremendous job “of keeping things on track.” He also emphasized the importance of funding from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Rural Development for the project.
Representing the USDA administration at the event was David L. Hall, director, and Ashley Kelly.
Hall shared similar sentiments at the ribbon-cutting as he did last month for the groundbreaking at the new village administration and police headquarters. He stated that when projects like this happen, “We all prosper.”
Kelly also spoke, noting he’s been with Arcanum for the better part of three years, citing the village was the best-kept secret in the county.
Bill Kessler, the village administrator, gave closing comments, thanking those who helped with the project and for the opportunity to serve Arcanum. He also thanked Rick Snyder and Shawn Smith (60 years of utility experience between the two) who will be running the new state-of-the-art facility.
Guests were given tours of the new 400,000 gallons-per-day system that will meet EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) requirements.
“This is an example of bureaucracy working for the people,” said Baumle at the end of the event. “This is a rural development program from the Department of Agriculture. It’s supporting an agricultural community in a rural setting.”
