COLUMBIANA COUNTY Engineer seeks water deal with Salem

LISBON -- County Engineer Bert Dawson will lobby Salem officials in an effort to buy water for Center Township.
Dawson told Columbiana County commissioners Wednesday that the central part of the county can no longer operate without a municipal water source because of commercial and residential growth in the area.
Dawson said he will send a letter to Salem officials asking them to respond in 30 days regarding whether the city will sell water to the county.
Dawson said the arrangement would be a bulk purchase by the county similar to the county's purchase of water from Salem for the Federal Correctional Institution at Elkton. The county would buy water and sell it to other entities, he said.
He said the county could tap into the line constructed from Salem to the prison to provide water to Center Township.
Although Salem has a policy that infrastructure is not extended without annexation, annexation is not an issue for Center Township, nor was it a consideration when Salem agreed to provide water to the federal prison, Dawson said. The area north of Lisbon that needs the water is about seven miles from the southern border of Salem, he said.
If Salem officials decide not to sell water to the county, Dawson said he and other county officials will negotiate with Buckeye Water District.