LORDSTOWN Village receives waterline grant

The 21-inch line is expected to be completed in early 2004.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- The village has been awarded a $1.3 million grant for a waterline extension to service the General Motors Corp. complex.
It's one of the criteria the automaker demanded to remain in the Mahoning Valley to build its next generation of small car, the Cobalt.
U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, announced the awarding of the U.S. Department of Commerce grant. He also announced a $1.75 million grant for the Akron Industrial Incubator. The grant will be presented at 10 a.m. Monday during a ceremony here at state Route 45 and Salt Springs Road.
It will be attended by Voinovich and David Sampson, U.S. assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. The village and Trumbull County Planning Commission applied for the grant.
Construction
Ron Barnhart, village planning administrator, said construction of six-mile, 21-inch line will begin in the fall and be completed by early 2004.
The line will be the primary water source to the fabricating plant and backup to the assembly plant, Barnhart explained.
Water is supplied by Warren, but GM said two years ago it wanted a redundant water supply system, Barnhart said.
It was one of GM's demands to remain, Barnhart said, including a 100-percent tax abatement on $500 million of new construction and a labor agreement. GM has received both of them.
Line's route
The line will begin at the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District facility on Salt Springs Road in Weathersfield Township.
It will run along Salt Springs, south on Route 45 to the Warren and Lordstown water storage tanks in the village. It will then run about 1,000 feet along Bailey Road to tie into the system to feed the fabricating plant.
Barnhart said Warren will continue to supply water to the assembly plant and backup the supply to the fabricating plant.
The estimated cost of the waterline is $3 million.
GM has received $23 million from the state. Of the total, the company will provide $1.3 million for the waterline.
The village is obligated to spend up to $700,000 on the extension, Barnhart said.