CANFIELD TWP. Waterline will be extended

The waterline will provide improved fire protection.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- When Joseph Warino first looked into the possibility of having Youngstown water service extended to Canfield Township, the cost was $3 million.
That was in 1982 when he was chief engineer at the Youngstown Water Department.
On Tuesday, Warino, now Mahoning County's sanitary engineer, unveiled a project that will deliver improved water service to parts of Canfield, Beaver and Boardman townships. The cost will be less than $1.5 million.
Construction should start July 1 on a 16-inch waterline that will run along Western Reserve Road, starting near the Ohio Turnpike in Beaver Township. It will extend west to Tippecanoe Road, then north to Summit Drive and U.S. Route 224 in Canfield Township.
The line will open the door for commercial and residential development along its route, but the primary benefit will be improved fire protection, Warino said.
"Some of the most devastating fires in Canfield Township have happened in that area," he said.
Lost building: Chuck Whitman of CTW Development agreed that the project, expected to be completed in a year, is long overdue.
In January 2001, fire destroyed an office building Whitman owned on Stutz Drive in Canfield Township, causing an estimated $5 million loss.
There are fire hydrants in that area, but they don't put out enough water pressure to fight a fire of that magnitude, he said. Firefighters were virtually unable to stop the fire.
"We lost the whole building," Whitman said. "There was just nothing they could do."
Whitman said he's glad other properties he owns in that area won't have the same problem.
Mike Naffah, owner of Ironwood Funland on Route 224, agreed that it's a project whose time has come. A 50-year area resident, Naffah has never suffered a fire but has long feared what would happen if one struck.
"You can't have good safety without water," he said. "This is a good day for everybody."
Cost savings: Warino said the cost was cut in half from the original estimate because officials can now tie in to a waterline from Consumer Ohio Water Service instead of having to build a long extension.
The original plan also would have required boring under the turnpike to run a waterline, which added to the expense but is no longer necessary.
The bulk of the funding, $693,629, will come from private sources such as COWS and several of the major property owners along the route, Warino said.
An additional $562,419 will be a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission, and the county will kick in $150,000 from sales tax revenue.
bjackson@vindy.com