FLUSHING — Village officials recently decided to bring on a consultant to help them with a sewage lift station issue after hearing complaints of damage to a local farm during a recent breakdown.

During a council meeting held July 13, resident Josie Bashline told council that since 2018 he has been working 20 acres of his family’s farmland that lies north of High Street. He said that he and a friend had been rotationally grazing livestock to help clear the land in hopes of putting in grape vines and trees.

Bashline said they first discovered in March 2019 that a village sewer lift station was periodically breaking down, resulting in raw sewage running out of a manhole and into a pond on the property. Bashline said they had been using the pond as a water supply for the farm as well as a source of clay for pottery.

He said they had video documentation of dead frogs and fish in the pond.

“The smell is horrendous, so we’re at a point where we need a solution. We need it fixed and we need it cleaned and we’re at a loss,” Bashline said.

Ryan Hughes, Bashline’s friend and partner in the farming operation, spoke next. He outlined his hopes to be a part of revitalizing Flushing and his disappointment about the situation with the lift station and the pond.

He said he had believed the problem was fixed a year ago after they discussed the matter with Mayor Tom Bober and Village Administrator Bryan Clark.

Bashline said that they discovered that the station had broken down again and found sewage running into the pond on July 4 of this year and that after being unable to contact Clark, he called Bober at home.

He said that while the station was fixed a few hours later, “the damage had already been done.”

Hughes said they were unsure how long the sewage had been running into the pond before it was discovered this time, but he had been using the pond to water trees he was preparing to plant and he now believes that he had been using sewage-laced water, which he and his dogs also would have come into contact with during the process.

Clark interrupted Hughes to say he intended to go over the issue in a Water and Sewer Committee meeting. He added that the incident had been reported to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the water had been sampled after the July 4 incident.

Hughes took exception to Clark referring to his comments as “rambling on” as he was interrupted, and Hughes questioned Clark being in charge after attempting to minimize his concerns.

Councilwoman Sandy Twarog expressed her dismay that the lift stations weren’t being checked on more often, suggesting that all village lift stations be checked on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Clark said they would be implementing a program to do so soon.

In response to a question from Bober, Clark said the cause of the problem on July 4 was a bad float that caused both pumps to kick off, and that the village had just spent $600 to replace the lights on all the lift stations that flash to indicate a failure.

Clark also said he had discussed the problem with the OEPA and other officials and that possible solutions ranged from a diversion ditch to moving the station.

Fiscal Officer Jeryl McGaffick said that the village lift stations had been worked on extensively and “re-engineered” eight years ago.

“We need an engineer to come out and advise us,” Clark concluded.

When asked by Bashline about the contamination in the pond, Clark said he had pulled samples on July 4 after the spill was reported to test for ammonia and solids. He said the pond water tested cleaner than the water coming out of the village sewage treatment plant.

Bober expressed confusion that they were talking about spending money to hire an engineer when they know it was a problem with the floats that caused the issue. Clark and Councilman Tom Spano said they were looking for a solution that would totally eliminate the threat to Bashline’s property.

Councilman Steve Ronyak stressed the need to come up with a regular maintenance schedule to help prevent such problems. Councilman David Coe made arrangements with Bashline to come and see the area they were discussing so he would have a better idea of what they were dealing with. Spano apologized on behalf of the village.

Clark told Bashline and Hughes he would keep them updated on what officials find out.