At its March 9 meeting, Akron City Council passed an ordinance to sponsor a dam removal project along Schocalog Run in Fairlawn.
The removal of an earthen dam along Schocalog Run, built by the former Rosemont Country Club, is central to the City of Fairlawn’s plans to create a 66-acre nature preserve near the large collection of shopping centers in Montrose.
The nature preserve will not only create conservation and green space for the city but also help manage the massive amount of stormwater runoff and flooding caused by the commercial development in the area commonly referred to as “Montrose.”
Built in the 1980s, Montrose predates Ohio’s stormwater management laws and is prone to flooding the surrounding area during heavy storms.
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Heavy storms wreak havoc along Schocalog Run
“For years, Fairlawn has taken abuse [from] the water coming out of Montrose and the fact that Schocalog Run was so flat, the residents off of Elgin, Bancroft, and into the Fort Island area, in a heavy storm, their back yards would fill with water. Quite a few of their houses would take on water and we did not have a good mechanism to fix that,” said Ernie Staten, Fairlawn’s service director.
Akron’s role as a “sponsor” comes from the Ohio EPA’s Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program, part of Ohio’s Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF). The program is designed to address nonpoint source runoff, which consists of pollutants that don’t come from a single source — such as a factory dumping waste directly into a waterway — but come from a range of sources, such as large amounts of water running off roads and parking lots.
Akron saves money sponsoring projects
While Fairlawn’s project is not part of Akron’s stormwater management conservation plans, the City of Akron will receive an interest rate reduction of approximately $90,000 on loans for its own projects by sponsoring the dam removal.
In this context, a sponsor serves as a functional co-signer on loans and ensures the project is completed. In fact, Staten explained that any city in the state can sponsor another.
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“Toledo could step in as a sponsor, but it’s great that Akron, which is in the same watershed, can step in to help,” he said.
In fact, sponsorship is nothing new for Akron. According to information provided by City of Akron Senior Engineer Heather Ullinger, Akron has saved more than $13 million since 2011 by sponsoring 44 WPCLF projects around the state.
Staten said he is grateful to be working with a neighboring community that understands local issues, adding that “after all, a watershed doesn’t follow municipal boundaries.”
