HUBBARD Water woes irk couple

The family says a new well will cost them nearly $3,000.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HUBBARD -- The city's temporary moratorium on utility connections can be costly, says a Hubbard Township couple.
"It's not fair," said Tammy Amrich of 3346 Roseview Drive, who lives at the house with her son and husband, John.
The Amriches' well has gone bad and they can't get city water because of the moratorium.
Their water has an odor to it and although it comes out of the tap clear, it turns brown after standing for a while.
Mrs. Amrich said it will cost at least $2,868 to sink a new well -- $2,500 to redrill, $168 for a permit and a $200 for a holding tank.
If the new well must be drilled more than 100 feet deep, it will cost more.
"Why can't I just tap in [to the city waterline] and pay for it?" Mr. Amrich queried. The Amrich home is at the corner of Roseview and Hubbard Road.
The house next to their house doesn't have city water service. The house next to that neighboring house does, however.
"If nobody here had water, I wouldn't complain," Mrs. Amrich said.
Connections?
She thinks those who do have city water are politically connected to city leaders.
The home down the street from the Amriches belongs to Eli Moga, city zoning inspector, and a house across the street belongs to one of Moga's relatives.
Mayor George Praznik said those tap-ins "go back years ago."
Mrs. Amrich admits her husband's grandfather, who previously owned their house, was offered city water service but turned it down.
The Amriches believe another strike against them is that their house needs to be remodeled.
"We're the poorest people on the street," Mrs. Amrich asserted, noting the city may believe they don't deserve service because of the home's poor condition.
The Amriches say Praznik has been the only person in the city that quickly responds to their plea, but he has told them city council has turned down their tap-in request.
Praznik said there's nothing he can do to help the Amriches.
Councilman William Williams, D-at large, chairman of council's utilities committee, said lawmakers imposed the moratorium on water tap-ins because of water loss within the system.
yovich@vindy.com