Maumee Opens Doors of Ailing Sewer Building to Justify $8.8 Million Replacement

By Sarah Mokri

A crumbling facade, deteriorating concrete blocks, and a roof leaking in several spots—these are the conditions under which the Maumee Sewer Division has been operating for the past several years.

$8.8 million is budgeted for a new building for the Sewer Department, and at a time when Maumee is already strapped for cash, that much money could be seen as a big ask. That’s why they opened up the current sewer building to the public twice this past week—to show exactly why a new building is a necessary expense.

They’ve been promised a new building for the past 20 years. The building they’re in now at 214 Illinois Avenue, built in 1948, was originally a car dealership. The windows are drafty, the kitchen flooded a while back, and the locker room is crowded with old, dingy furniture, much of it brought in from home by employees. These problems are dwarfed by larger structural issues, though. The facade above the bay doors is falling off the building. There are large cracks along the perimeter. The smell of mold permeates the air. The roof leaks to the point where chunks of drywall have fallen. In the summer, hot tar leaks from the roof down through the ceiling and lands on city vehicles parked in the bay. The parking lot was remediated years ago to meet EPA standards, but was never repaved, so it is pitted and muddy.

You can see where temporary repairs have been made: new plywood on the ceiling, fresh paint in the office. But these are stop-gap measures, never meant to be permanent solutions. Estimates for a new roof alone came in at $130,000.00. The foundation needs redone. The parking lot hasn’t been repaved because, anticipating a new building, the city didn’t want to spend the money.

Maumee’s Sewer Division is at the beginning stages of the largest undertaking in its history. The sewer remediation and separation program is estimated to cost over $100 million and could take up to 30 years to complete. In order to be properly equipped, and pending city council approval this coming Monday, Maumee will be selling notes in anticipation of selling bonds to pay for a new $575,000.00 hydro excavator. The new two-story building will provide adequate storage for it and the rest of the Sewer Division’s equipment. Plans for the new facility include a dedicated break room, a large training room, men’s and women’s locker rooms, a separate ADA-compliant locker room, laundry and shower facilities, private offices, and eight large drive-through bays for equipment parking and storage.

For more information on the Sewer Division or the sewer remediation and separation project, please go to www.maumee.org.