BYESVILLE -- Village officials, in shock Wednesday, had difficulty fathoming it: The wastewater treatment plant project was kicked off the list for federal stimulus money -- an estimated $2.5 million.
Seemingly, the project had everything going for it:
* The village is under orders of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to upgrade or build a new plant.
* The project is "shovel ready." The contract could be awarded tomorrow and ground could break before the month is out.
* Guernsey County has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. The whole notion of the stimulus plan is to put people to work now.
* A new plant would improve the environment -- a stated goal of the Obama administration.
"We're disappointed," Administrator Randy Mercer said, "because we're ready to put people to work today. And that's what the stimulus plan was all about."
Consulting engineer, Jeanette Wierzbicki, of W.E. Quicksall and Associates, broke the news during council's regular meeting Wednesday.
Council President Margo Johnston expressed appreciation for Wierzbicki's courage in being the bearer of bad news.
"I know this was hard for you to do," Johnston said.
"I live just down the road," Wierzbicki said. "This is personal to me. You guys have worked so hard. And this [project] meets all of the criteria that the stimulus was supposed to address."
Mercer recommended that the project be delayed for six weeks in the hope that the powers to be come to their senses and remove some projects ahead of Byesville's that do not meet the criteria advocated for the stimulus plan.
(jlowe@daily-jeff.com)