Hi, my name is Josh Clyde and I’m here representing the non-profit organization ECO. During my time working with ECO I’ve talked to people who have gotten sewage in their basement from inadequate sewer lines here in Hamilton County.  The sewage backups into their homes ruined important material items belonging to them as well as items of costly repair like furnaces and hot water heaters. These people worry about another basement backup.  They can only recover from damages so many times.

These backups are a threat to their property as well as their health.

We understand that money is needed to fix the sewers, but we feel that the cost are being allocated to the wrong people. While individual residences are struggling to pay high sewer rates for a system that is not giving them what they paid for, industries are getting discounts on their bills and paying little to nothing for all the storm water that runs off of the huge parking lots that they own.  The treatment of that storm water is paid mostly by the residents.

We need a rate structure in Cincinnati that takes notice of the extensive volume of storm water runoff leaving these impermeable surfaces and makes sure that it is being paid for by the right people.  We need a rate structure that offers incentives to the progressive eco-friendly users who choose to integrate permeable surfaces on their properties, before, and after building is complete.

Election time is coming and there are new candidates for the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners. Come hear from the candidates for Hamilton County Board of Commissioners on September 27th from 6 – 8 pm at Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church. County Commissioners are responsible for sewer, transportation, and solid waste issues, as well as several other departments including the Board of Elections, Courts, Tax Levy, Corrections and Job and Family Services. Candidates running will be asked question on community concerns generated by the attendees.

When: September 27th, 6-8 pm

Where: 103 William Howard Taft Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45219

For more information, to RSVP, and to submit questions click here.

This Candidate Forum is sponsored by Community Shares of Greater Cincinnati. If you have any questions regarding the forum, please contact Community Shares at info@cintishares.org.

Green Infrastructure

Cincinnati has a sewage problem, with over 200 hundred combined sewer overflow points and hundreds of miles of streams that flow through sewers overwhelming the waste-water treatment plants. Sewer overflows violate the clean water act and we are required to repair and rebuild our outdated and failing sewer system. The Sewer District will be fined by the EPA if we fail to reduce sewage overflows. Many communities utilize their storm-water fees to incentivize homeowners to install green infrastructure like rain gardens or rain barrels. They also require storm-water management like rain gardens or swales for new construction and collect fees on large impervious surfaces.