Interview Framework for Networks for Rural Policy Development Project

In this model the community and external resources are the inputs, with the outcome being the infrastructure constructed (water or sewer). The community resources include: recognize need, leadership, design, finance, build, and maintain. The external resources parallel this and include: recognized need, leadership, design assistance, financial assistance, administration of funds, and training.

This conceptualization is similar to a production process.   All inputs are needed, and an abundance of only one resource does not lead to greater outcome.   For example, increasing the external resources' ability to provide financial assistance will not lead to more infrastructure improvements being built if there is not also an increase in community resources such as recognizing the need for infrastructure improvements.

In order to identify policy issues and potential solutions, each of the inputs must be examined as a possible intervention point.   Evidence available as to whether there is a need to enhance each input must be gathered.

Community Resources

 1.   Recognize Need:
Who is identifying the need – community, regulatory agency? The community must recognize they need additional water and sewer infrastructure. A failing septic tank is not necessarily recognized by the property owner, nor if it is suspected, does the property owner understand the potential health and environmental consequences. 

 2.   Leadership :
It is “risky” to advocate for a project that may not have community support because of the increased water and sewer rates that will accompany the project. Justifying the increased rates based on expected future economic development, which may not materialize, is also risky for the politician.

 3. Design :
A community can increase its chances of getting federal or state funding for a project by having the design work done before applying for financial aid.   However, a community may not know the appropriate design and have to rely on consultants or state assistance. 

 4. Finance :
A community can increase its chances of getting federal or state funding for a project by contributing a portion of its own money to the project, called “match”. A community must also show that it can pay for the project with operating income and thus must frequently raise water and sewer rates significantly, sometimes to a level that is unaffordable, or at least politically unacceptable, to the community.

 5. Build :
A community must have the capacity, either within its local bureaucracy by hiring an outside consultant, to do proper project management.   Numerous examples exist in which a previously repaired and paved road was subsequently torn up to install water or sewer pipes.

6. Maintain :
An often forgotten component of a project is planned maintenance. The life of a system can be extended, and operating costs reduced, if proper maintenance is conducted.

External Resources

 1. Recognized Need :
Currently, Health Departments in the rural Ohio Appalachian counties do not actively inspect septic tanks for compliance, but operate on a complaint basis only.   A proposed Ohio House Bill had a provision for mandating inspections, but this was an unfunded mandate and the local Health Departments envisioned this as being impossible to comply with. It is also commonly understood that if checked, most septic systems would fail. Need can also be recognized by EPA compliance inspections of local streams.   As with the Health Department, Ohio EPA primarily does inspections based on complaints.  

 2. Leadership :
Who provides leadership to communities from project inception to completion – LDDs, R-CAP, Small Communities Environmental Infrastructure Group, OEPA?

 3. Design Assistance :
Who produces design assistance – LDDs, OEPA, consultants?

 4. Financial Assistance :
The LDDs provide assistance to the community by helping them understand the grant/loans programs they may be eligible for and helping, where possible, in the application process. The Small Communities Environmental Infrastructure Group (SCEIG) has a finance committee that meets and reviews community projects and advises communities on financing alternatives. External resources affect financial assistance on a state and federal level by dictating the type of systems available for funding and the selection criteria used, in addition to the total funding allocated.

 5.   Administering Funds :
The LDDs administer the funds for some of the grant/loan programs.  

 6. Training :
For example, SCEIG has workshops for community public works engineers to help them properly maintain infrastructure systems.