BOARDMAN Officials seek end to floods

The township is working with various entities to combat the problem.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Township officials don't want a repeat of this past summer when the area was hit hard by heavy rainfall that caused flooding and sewage backups.
Since late August, township officials have held meetings with various entities -- including the Mahoning County engineer's office, the Boardman school district, the Ohio Department of Transportation and Mill Creek MetroParks -- to discuss ways to prevent these problems.
"We had several people suffer a great deal because of the flooding," said Thomas P. Costello, chairman of the township's board of trustees. "We want to start finding some solutions, so we've met with every entity we can since the rain and flooding."
Township officials have already figured out some solutions to the flooding problems during the meetings, Costello said.
For example, county storm sewers along Southern Boulevard between Indianola Road and Midlothian Boulevard were covered with debris that caused backup.
"The county is correcting that so the water will flow," Costello said.
Proposal
Township officials proposed placing retention ponds on school-district property, asked the Home Builders Association of the Mahoning Valley how to better maintain retention ponds, and discussed cleaning up debris in and near the Mill Creek watershed with Mill Creek MetroParks officials.
The township is also working with the county sanitary engineer's office to let people know that the installation of back-flow systems could prevent sewage from getting into their homes, and that the county has a program to defray half the cost of installing a system, Costello said. A back-flow system costs about $2,000 to $3,000, he said.
"The meetings have been very productive," Costello said. "We need to work with other agencies to resolve these problems. We've identified several areas that we need to look at."
Township officials plan to take a closer look at the information they've compiled at the meetings in the near future and come up with a comprehensive list of areas of concern and ways to eliminate or reduce those problems, Costello said.
skolnick@vindy.com