Hilliard city engineers can now enter private property to replace lead water service lines under an ordinance City Council passed Monday, Sept. 28.

Ordinance 26-21 creates a Lead Service Line Replacement Program and a separate Inflow and Infiltration Reduction Program. Both give the city engineer or an authorized representative the legal authority to work on private land, according to the city's legislative bulletin.

The ordinance requires the city to notify residents by letter, mailer or door hanger before field work starts.

The lead-line program allows the city to declare lead service lines a public nuisance, negotiate work agreements with property owners and replace the pipes during capital improvement projects. The ordinance aligns Hilliard's code with Columbus City Code Section 1119.

Hilliard receives its water from Columbus Water & Power as a satellite contract community. Under federal regulations, Columbus is replacing lead service lines across its service area over the next 12 years. As a satellite community, Hilliard is required to do the same during its own capital projects.

The sewer side of the ordinance grew out of a study council authorized Sept. 8, 2025. That resolution launched the Old Hilliard Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study to find where stormwater leaks into sanitary sewer lines in the Old Hilliard Outfall area.

The new Inflow and Infiltration Reduction Program lets the city enter private property to investigate leaks, make repairs and inspect the work afterward. The city's 2025 Popular Annual Financial Report noted Hilliard had launched a sewer evaluation study focused on established neighborhoods with aging infrastructure.

Hilliard's sanitary sewer system feeds into Columbus-owned infrastructure for treatment. The city has operated under a federal Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) Program since orders from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in 2009.

At the same meeting, council passed Ordinance 26-20, adding paid parental leave for eligible non-union full-time city employees. City Manager Joshua Rauch requested the change, which amends the personnel code council originally adopted in March 2021. At the Sept. 14 first reading, staff said Ordinance 26-20 provides up to eight weeks of paid leave for birth, adoption, fostering or pregnancy loss. It covers non-union full-time employees with at least one year of service and runs concurrently with FMLA. 

Both ordinances take effect no later than Oct. 28.

Residents can track council agendas and ordinance documents through the city's legislative portal at hilliardohio.civicweb.net.