WEATHERSFIELD TOWNSHIP County officials explain Hilltop sewer project
The project was prompted by a health nuisance.
By MARY SMITH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
McDONALD -- No one spoke against the proposed sanitary sewer project for the Hilltop area of Weathersfield Township during a public hearing Tuesday.
Trumbull County commissioners conducted the meeting at McDonald High School, and more than 90 residents attended.
Commissioners and Thomas Holloway, county sanitary engineer, answered several questions about project details and individual problems about tapping into the new lines once they are installed.
Cost estimate: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has mandated the project. Estimates with drawings for the project completed by MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown show the total cost will be about $5.2 million.
Plans are to take bids in April and May of this year, with construction to start in June and to be completed by the end of May 2002. An estimated 230 homes on 24 streets will be involved in the project.
Subsequent OEPA testing documented four discharges of sewer water that were found to be a health threat.
Financing: The county has pulled together a financing package to help cover all but $299,661 of the project cost: a $1.2 million grant and a $1.8 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture; a Community Development Block Grant of $1.3 million; and an Ohio Public Works Commission grant of $587,745.
An expected current user fee of $3.85 per 1,000 gallons of water used and a capital charge estimated at between $15 and $20 will be charged for an undetermined period to help cover the costs of the loan.
Other details discussed include a one-time tap-in fee of $1,050 for a residence. Cost to install a lateral line from the house to the main line and to shut down an existing septic system is around $3,500 for a lateral the length of 100 feet. Low-to moderate-income families could qualify for 100 percent assistance on both the payment of the tap-in fee and the lateral installation.
Negotiations are under way with McDonald village to have the sewage pumped from the new system into McDonald's lines, which will then pass the waste along to Niles sewage treatment.