Mercer County Commissioner Chairman Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman said Monday "all interested parties" are meeting today in hopes of hammering out a final sewer agreement for the proposed $18.5 million 265-bed county jail in Findley Township.

Brenneman said that includes the commissioners, state Department of Environmental Protection representatives and Findley Township officials.

Brenneman said negotiations with the state Department of Corrections began last May and now only a "final approval" from the DEP is needed to seal the deal.

The approval that needs to be finalized, Brenneman said, is for "what we might call the right-of-way. The drawings and plans are done for the lines, the manholes and the whole works, but we have to finalize an agreement to use that strip, which is a formality."

"It's more than just a formality, but I hope he's correct though," said Commissioner Kenneth A. Seamans, who said the strip of land belongs to the Department of Corrections.

The meeting is necessary, Seamans said, after the DEP recently returned the county's application, saying it had some questions.

The county will have to pay the Department of Corrections a one-time up-front fee of $70,000 to $100,000 for updates to the plant, Brenneman said. A bill of $5,800 a month is being projected on the expected "discharge from our facility," he added.

"This has worked out well and we're down to the final approval from the DEP, which looks very favorable at this time," Brenneman said. "It's been a long, hard road."

Seamans said the county would have preferred to go with a community or regional sewer authority, which was one of the original options.

"If a community sewer could have been a factor, it would have been the best thing that could happen," he said. "But those folks are not ready for, I would say in my estimate, probably at least three or four years and we could not wait."

"It was the most economical option at this point in time," Commissioner Olivia Lazor said.

The third option was for the county to build an on-site system of its own, but costs could have exceeded $1 million just for installation.