Scioto County is in jeopardy of loosing $30 million for a Minford sewer project, if the project is not under construction or a contract is not signed for construction by July 31.

On Tuesday the Scioto County Commissioners accepted a letter from the USDA Ohio office dated January 30th.

"We are concerned that your project has not advanced to the construction stage and that the Recovery (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funds approved for your project may be in jeopardy if progress on your project is not made soon," stated J. Anthony Logan, USDA State Director.

Joe Delong, Scioto County Sanitary Engineer said the county is working on gaining easements to proceed with the project.

"We need 740 easements and we have 150 at this point," Delong said. "We are hoping that people will be corporative and know we are under the gun. This is quite a bit of money and we are never going to get this chance again. It would be nice if people would sign the easement agreements as soon as they can so we can get this project underway."

Delong said in order for the project to proceed the county going to be required to have access to all the necessary easements.

The $29 million in funding came from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus) funding through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development through a combination of loans and grants.

The $29 million is divided into a $14,912,000 loan and a grant of $14, 507,00.

The project will call for the installation of 30 miles of sewer mains, a new waste water treatment plant among other things.

The proposed project will provide sewage service to 1327 existing consumers (homes) along with modest growth capacity for the entire service area.

Logan goes on to state that if the project is not under construction or under a contact for construction by July 31st a request could be made to the White House Office of Management & Budget for a waver.

"If your project will not be under construction or under a contract for construction by July 31, you (Scioto County) will need to provide in writing the reason why the project has been delayed along with a timeline for commencing construction and final completion. The agency will consider making a request for a waiver to OMB with the information you provide. Waivers will be requested sparingly so the reason for delay must be well documented and show extenuating circumstances," Logan stated.

"I was given no reason to believe that we would get away with it (being granted an extension)," Delong said.