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 Serving Rural Ohio Communities for Over 30 YearsThe Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP) provides consulting services to help rural communities address their drinking water and wastewater treatment needs. Each year, we serve well over 100 communities in Ohio and leverage millions of dollars for water and sewer projects. Our field agents assist communities with project development and capacity building. Click here to review a full list of services.
Ohio RCAP is part of the Great Lakes RCAP network, and receives funding from a number of federal programs as well as Ohio EPA and the Ohio Water Development Authority to provide technical assistance to communities under 10,000 population, including homeowner associations and mobile home parks.
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WHAT'S NEW!
New RCAP Guides  Released to Help Small Water and Wastewater Systems
The Basics of Financial Management and nine other publications have been produced by the National RCAP Office for small, rural communities. Each guide has been written and reviewed by field staff who are experts in the subject of the guide they are producing. All guides are general enough to apply to most communities across the country, regardless of their location, size and their state’s rules and regulations. A list of the ten guides and a description of each is available at www.rcap.org/commpubs.
Contact your nearest RCAP representative to receive a printed copy, or go to the National RCAP website.
Looking for Ways to Save Money? Start with the Electric Bill!
The Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program is now offering Energy Audits for both water and wastewater facilities. Energy Audits are a great way to analyze opportunities for you to save money and conserve energy at the same time. We have identified many projects at facilities with 1-2 year payback periods offering savings of several thousand dollars per year. Our RCAP Energy Audit Team is available to conduct an Energy Audit at a reasonable cost. We have found that many electric providers are offering incentives for energy conservation OR are providing partial or full cost funding for completion of an Energy Audit.
The RCAP Energy Audit Team includes our Professional Engineer who is certified to conduct energy audits, Scott Strahley, and our certified operators Tom Fishbaugh and Larry Baxa. They have received extensive training on how to perform energy audits. They may be able to determine whether or not there is a likelihood of significant cost-savings at your facility with a short bench-marking worksheet. For more information, please contact Scott Strahley at (419) 334-4034.
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RCAP is pleased to announce its Spring 2012 training schedule for its Utility Management courses. Please note that offerings of our 101:Utility Management for Local Officials and 201: Financial Management have been scaled back because we are working on a new initiative to create on-line interactive training courses. Our 301:Asset Management, and 401:Applied Asset Management Software courses will be offered again in each EPA District. Registration is free, but space is limited. Please note that we are no longer able to provide lunch and refreshments. Each course is approved for contact hours through OEPA. Please go to our Training Sign-Up Form to register, or contact Nadine Thompson at 1-800-775-9767.
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Locating Mains, Leaks & Lost Revenue for Small Water Systems
Free Seminar - 6 Contact Hours
February 29th, 2012
Delaware, Ohio
Click here for more information.
UPDATE: Class is full. Call Nadine Thompson at 1-800-775-9767 to be put on a waiting list.
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Collaborative GIS Solutions for Small Utilities and Local Governments
Has your community considered implementing a GIS program, but the cost of software, equipment and training or additional personnel has held you back? In 2008, RCAP embarked on an ambitious effort to find a solution for its client communities that wanted to implement a Geographic Information System (GIS). Recognizing that the needs and use of a GIS among these communities is different from large cities and counties, we began coordinating small communities to obtain funding for the study and development of a GIS program to fit their needs and budgets. RCAP has already worked in over 20 communities to map their utilities, and recently received an ARC grant to create GIS datasets for 20 more.
RCAP now has a GIS Team to assist communities with GPS data collection and GIS program development, and soon we will offer map services via a GIS Server over the Internet. All small public utilities in Ohio are welcome to participate in the shared Rural Community Collaborative Services program we are developing to provide affordable solutions for GIS and hopefully other procurement and technology needs in the future. For more information, contact Sherry Loos at 330-628-4286.
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RCAP Encourages All Utilities to Join WARN Today!
WARN provides standardized Mutual Aid Agreements and a database of equipment, labor and other resources water and wastewater systems can utilize in the event of an emergency. Participation is free, and RCAP along with AWWA strongly encourage all systems to join. A big advantage to being a WARN member is that by signing the agreement and following the procedures, it sets the utility up for record keeping according to FEMA guidelines and has them in place should reimbursement occur. Also, WARN addresses the responsibility/liability issues for assistance.
WARN is a voluntary program of utilities helping other utilities. Please visit the Ohio WARN website at http://www.ohwarn.org, or contact Randy Gilbert at (937) 781-2625 for more information.
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August 14-16, 2012
Columbus, Ohio
Planning Big Things
for Ohio's Small Communities!
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Ohio RCAP, part of the Great Lakes RCAP, is administered by the W.S.O.S. Community Action Commission, Inc. in Fremont, Ohio.
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