GALLIPOLIS — After receiving funds earlier this month for the completion of the Kanauga-Addison Sewer Project from the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, the Gallia County Board of Commissioners are now expecting the total project to be completed by midsummer.

According to a release issued by the the commissioners on Friday, the $3.5 million check was received on October 5 and has been deposited into the KA Sewer Project fund for the completion of the system.

Negotiations for the completion of the project began after the original contract for the sewer was terminated with Trimat Construction, Inc., in January of this year.

The commission issued a seven-day notice of termination to the company on January 12, citing a “continued failure” to meet schedules and an “excessive amount of claims” placed on the project.

After the termination, the project was turned over to the former contractor’s bonding company, the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, for completion.

A letter issued on September 20 by the Gallia County Commissioners to the property owners affected by the sewer states that the the $3.5 million amount will allow for “adequate funding for project completion.”

With the tendering of the check, the bonding company relinquished its responsibility for the completion of the project, handing that responsibility to the county commission.

In the time since the termination of the original contract, the bonding company hired an outside company to “camera” and clear the entire gravity collection system in order to discover the areas of the project that need replaced.

Reportedly, the entire system consists of 60,000 linear feet of sewer line and there is approximately 13,000 of that line that will need to be reconstructed as it, reportedly, does not meet project specifications.

The letter issued to residents on September 20 further states that “Gallia County will also reclaim the areas disturbed by the original project construction that are not within the areas that need reconstruction work. In the areas where reconstruction work is necessary, reclamation will be completed shortly after the construction work.”

Friday’s release states that the commission is currently negotiating with contractors for the project completion and notices for connection to the southern-most areas in Kanaugua and on Ohio 7 to the bowling alley — areas served by lift stations “one” and “two” — will be forthcoming in the next few weeks with total project completion anticipated for midsummer 2013.

The release also states that the settlement agreement with the bonding company will provide “no additional costs to the residents nor increase in monthly sewer bills. The settlement will also cover all of the county legal fees and additional engineering costs associated with the project. Further, there will be no tap fees for residents and businesses and funding will be available for on lot hook ups for low income qualified owner occupied residents.”

The absence of tap fees for residents affected by the project can be attributed to grant funding and a zero percent interest loan from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Trimat Construction was awarded the bid for the sewer project on July 30, 2009, after the company presented the lowest bid for the project at $3,488,183.44.

Current funding expended to date on the Kanauga-Addison Sewer Project totals $5.39 million.

As reported at the time of the original contract termination, the total cost for the project is $5.75 million and is being paid for through approximately $3 million in low-interest loans and $2.7 million in grant funding.

According to Friday’s release, payment on the loan does not begin until the actual completion of the project.