NILES Official: Don't get rattled by covers

The rattling manhole covers are a temporary fix, a city official said.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Just because it rattles doesn't mean it's broken.
That's a message the city has for some residents.
The city is in the process of replacing about 700 manhole covers throughout the city. Schimley Excavating is the project general contractor.
A subcontractor is removing the covers and using a temporary cover in their place while the old cover is repaired.
The temporary covers don't fit the manholes precisely, causing a rattle when cars drive over, said Randy Fabrizio, water superintendent. Some residents have called the city, believing there's a problem because of the loose fit.
"It's just a temporary measure to get the covers repaired," he said.
The project could take several months to complete.
The city has instructed the subcontractor to erect barricades around the replacement covers that stick up above the pavement.
When to call: "Residents should call in only if the cover is completely missing or it's come off the casting," Fabrizio said.
The project is to replace about 700 leaky manhole covers throughout the city.
The project arose out of a 1999 study by Thomas Fok & amp; Associates, Warren, which said that 64 percent of the 1.7 billion gallons of water coming into the city's treatment plant each year is storm water runoff that doesn't have to be treated.
The study said the runoff water gets into the system through leaky manholes and sewer lines, costing about $800,000 annually to treat.
Improvements are expected to remove about 300 million gallons of the storm water runoff annually.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency required the city to have the study done of its water treatment operations.
Schimley Excavating was awarded a roughly $633,000 contract last year to repair 20 to 30 pipelines that connect sanitary sewer lines to storm sewer lines and replacement of the Lafayette Street sanitary sewer system.
The manhole replacement project is estimated at more $200,000.