US city Akron earmarks $100m to develop water, sewer projects in 2013 budget

The City of Akron in the US state of Ohio is planning to focus more on water and sewer projects this year than on economic development.

Within its latest budget of $218m for 2013, Akron has earmarked close to $100m exclusively for development of water and sewer projects, and allocated only $46m for economic development activities, reported The Akron Beacon Journal – Ohio.com.

With the Goodyear and Bridgestone projects nearing completion, and a giant sewer project coming up, Akron considered water and sewage works as priority works for the year.

The city will spend $37m for winding up Goodyear and Bridgestone projects this year.

Akron strategic initiatives division manager Mark Moore was quoted by the journal as saying, "It’s nice to see our Bridgestone commitment completed and that we are finishing our commitment to Goodyear."

As part of the sewer works lined up for 2013, the city will build a huge tunnel downtown, which is slated to be complete in 2014.

It will also undertake various sewer separations, improve the Mud Run pump station and review 20 miles of sewer using sonar technology.

The city also plans to assign $890m to the sewer upgrades over the next 18 years, which are being done as part of a settlement to federal environmental lawsuit.

"It’s going to be a lot each year," the journal quoted Akron Deputy Mayor Rick Merolla as saying.

Akron City Council will conduct voting on capital budget on 11 February 2013, following public hearings.