COLUMBIANA Sewer assessment process to start

The manager hopes Southern Avenue extensions will qualify for CDBG funding.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
COLUMBIANA -- A resolution stating the need for the extension of city sewer service to Fairfield Avenue and Bittersweet Drive will be presented to city council March 19.
City Manager Keith Chamberlin said the resolution is the next step in preparing to assess about 50 south-side property owners for the $400,000 project.
He said extending sewer service to Fairfield Avenue and Bittersweet Drive -- an infrastructure project talked about for more than two years -- could begin in about three months.
After council passes the resolution stating the need for the sewer project, residents will be notified of an estimated assessment charge, he said.
Appeal process: Residents will then have the opportunity to appeal the charges. If there are appeals, they must be heard by an appeals board of three city residents.
The appeals board makes the final decision about the amount of the assessment, he said. If residents don't agree with the appeals board decision, their only recourse then is to file a lawsuit, Chamberlin said.
Such appeals would delay the start of the project, because the appeals must be heard before the project can be bid, he said.
After the project is bid and built and the final cost is known, then the final assessments are sent out, Chamberlin explained.
Ways to pay: Residents can choose to have the assessment added to their property tax bill, or they can make a lump sum payment, Chamberlin said.
All residents in the city limits on those streets must connect to the sewer system, he said. The project entails installing 3,051 feet of sewer line. A few of the properties are vacant lots, he said.
During previous discussions of the projects at council meetings, some Fairfield Avenue residents objected to the mandate.
Chamberlin is also working on securing funding for a separate project, extending water and sewer service to about 13 residents of nearby Southern Avenue.
Chamberlin is surveying door-to-door about 13 Southern Avenue residents. He is gathering household financial information in the hopes that sewer and waterline extension to Southern Avenue can be partly paid with a Community Development Block Grant.
Income requirement: Chamberlin has two more Southern Avenue homeowners to talk to, but so far it appears the residents will meet the requirement that 51 percent of those residents at low or moderate income levels.
He said installing 2,396 feet of sewer line and 1,669 feet of 8-inch waterline to Southern Avenue will cost nearly $350,000.
He said Southern Avenue residents need the sewer service the most, and are least able to pay for it. He said the septic systems don't work properly because of the type of soil in the area.
Chamberlin said the county health department and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency could mandate that the city do the Southern Avenue project, but haven't "because they know we're working on it."
He said he hopes to start the Southern Avenue project sometime in September, when CDBG funds become available.