Commissioners approve deadline extensions for Hilltop Wellfield grants totaling $7.5 million

Greene County commissioners on Aug. 7 approved first and second amendments to grant agreements with the Ohio Department of Development that extend the period for spending $7.5 million awarded for the Hilltop Wellfield project. The amendments cover the original $5 million grant and a supplemental $2.5 million award and were presented to the board by county staff.

The amendments matter because the project has experienced procurement delays for well equipment, county staff said, even though the raw water main is largely installed. "It's been procuring the equipment for the actual wells themselves. It's taken a while," a county staff member said during the meeting. "We're praying we can get it online by the end of the year, and I'm not sure we will." The extensions give the county more time to spend the grant dollars.

County staff told commissioners that the raw water main installation has progressed and that the outstanding delay is primarily the specialized equipment needed for the wells. No new dollar amounts beyond the two awards were discussed at the meeting, and county staff did not provide a firm revised completion date.

The vote to approve the two amendments was moved and seconded during the general business portion of the meeting and carried with affirmative votes recorded.

The amendments do not—according to the material presented at the meeting—change the scope of work described in the original agreements; they extend grant deadlines to accommodate procurement delays. County staff did not provide a detailed procurement schedule at the meeting but indicated that officials hope to place the wells into service later this year.

Documents and further implementation steps were delegated to county staff; commissioners did not announce additional funding requests or penalties tied to the procurement delays.