Serving Rural Ohio Communities for Over 30 Years The 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.  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.  Many of our client communities serve only a few hundred people, or are rural areas in need of public water or sewer service.
WHAT'S NEW!  Lots of New Courses Scheduled in May and June - Register for Free Training Now! In addition to adding an extra 101:Utility Management for Local Officials and 201:Financial Management for Local Officials on June 5th and 6th in Newcomerstown, we are pleased to announce three new classes that will debut in May and June. How to Save Money and Spend Wisely will be offered in Springfield, Zanesville and Canton. Introduction to GIS and GPS Technology for Small Utilities will be offered in Warren, Fremont, Zanesville and Yellow Springs. Real CMOM Solutions for Sewers will be offered in Zanesville and Yellow Springs. For more course descriptions and to view the schedule, please go to our Board Training 2013 page.  All courses are approved or have been submitted for operator contact hours.  We thank the Ohio EPA Division of Drinking and Ground Waters and the Ohio Water Development Authority for sponsoring our classes, enabling us to offer free registration.  Space, however, is limited!  To register, please use our Training Sign-up Form, or contact Nadine Thompson at 1-800-775-9767.    COMING SOON! Our New Website Please check out our website this summer when we unveil the new and significantly improved www.ohiorcap.org !      National 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.
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.
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 937-456-6760 for more information.				Save Energy - Save Money! RCAP's Energy Audit Team specialized in Energy Audits for small community water and sewer utilities. On average, our energy audits identify projects with a short payback period that can save systems 25% per year on their energy bills.  Frequently, electric utility providers will provide partial reimbursement for studies. Check out our Energy page for more information, or call Scott Strahley today at 419-334-4034.
Financing Resources -  RCAP's Water and Wastewater Funding Grid for Ohio (updated frequently)   Ohio RCAP Handout     •    Go to the Ohio RCAP Toolkit section to download other resources!    •    Ohio RCAP Field Agent Locations
Ohio RCAP, part of the Great Lakes RCAP, is administered by the W.S.O.S. Community Action Commission, Inc. in Fremont, Ohio.