CORTLAND Officials will vote on study

An engineer is to present a plan to fix neighborhood drainage Jan. 12.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CORTLAND -- Council is considering spending $49,000 on a study to determine where rainwater is seeping into the city's sanitary sewer system.
The city pays by the gallon for Trumbull County to treat its sewage, and with the in-flow of fresh water, money is being flushed down the toilet.
Officials estimate that the heavy rainfall this year will cost the city an extra $186,000 in sewer fees.
"We are going to exceed the estimate from the beginning of the year by 50 percent," said finance director Fran Moyer. "I expected to spend $400,000. It will be more like $600,000."
In two weeks, council is expected to vote on a plan by MS Consultants to study where the water is coming from.
Engineer Donald Whitman proposed installing flow meters to monitor six "minibasins" within the city system for three months, starting mid-January.
By collecting data about what happens in each area when it rains, the engineering firm could point to the part of the city that has the most problems.
The next step would then be to videotape, dye-test or smoke-test pipes in the areas, to pinpoint particular problems. The city's service department could probably do this work, Councilman Michael Hillman said.
The study would also address which areas the city would likely save the most money by fixing, Whitman said.
The study could provide a foundation for fighting in-flow for the next 20 years, Whitman said.
"Getting rid of in-flow is kind of like a dog chasing its tail," Whitman said. "Things pop up and you fix them."
Ongoing dispute
Council took no action on its protracted dispute with developer Anthony Petrocco, whom the city says installed an inadequate drainage system on Laura Lane and Anthony Circle, in the Shepherds Hill neighborhood. A study by consultants working for the city concluded that the system put in the ground did not match with approved plans.
Law Director Patrick Wilson said he was told Monday that Petrocco has hired another engineer to look at the neighborhood and review the city's findings. That engineer will be ready to sit down with village officials Jan. 12, he said.
This will be the third engineer for Petrocco to work on drainage in the area. The first moved out of state and the second quit, Wilson said.
There was no discussion of council's ultimatum from the previous meeting to require Petrocco to post a $154,000 performance bond guaranteeing that he will fix the neighborhood's problems or pay a $300-a-day fine. The deadline for the ultimatum -- council's third -- was Monday.
Wilson said that Petrocco did not agree with the bond.
"I'm counseling cooperation here," he said. "I'm hoping this will work."
siff@vindy.com