BROOKFIELD West Hill area to get sewer service

Construction is expected to begin in the spring.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BROOKFIELD -- Residents in the West Hill section of the township will finally have sanitary sewer service by the end of next year.
The Ohio Department of Development announced Friday $1.75 million in grants statewide to improve water and sewer systems.
Brookfield gets $600,000, as did the village of Jerry City in Wood County. Allen County got $554,900.
Alan Knapp, assistant director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission, said about $2 million is needed for the Brookfield project.
He said $300,000 in community development block grants and $400,000 in state Issue 2 money have also been approved for the project.
The county will borrow $900,000 through the sale of bonds to cover the balance.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has identified West Hill as "an area of concern," Knapp said, because of failing septic systems.
Knapp said West Hill qualified for the grants because it was designated a low- and moderate-income area in the U.S. Census data of 1970, 1980 and 1990.
Requirement
Fifty-one percent of households are needed to qualify.
Just as the commission began applying for federal funds for West Hill, the 2000 census showed that 37.3 percent of the residents were in the low- and moderate-income category.
Julie Green, a commission staffer, said a door-to-door survey conducted this year determined that 79.6 percent of the households qualify.
The grant calls for construction of 21,500 feet of 8- and 12-inch sanitary lines along 14 streets.
They are: a portion of Warren-Sharon Road; Body, Diamond, Atlantic, Meek, Wheeler, Atlantic and Pacific streets; and Brightview, Gaylord, Grover, Kimberly, Linden and Owsley avenues.
Thomas Fok and Associates Ltd. of Austintown is designing the project, and it should go out for bid by the end of the year.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring and be completed by the end of 2004.
Green said money has been set aside to pay for the tap-in fees and lateral lines for 50 residents.
There will be no assessments, but customers will be charged an additional user fee to pay off the $900,000 being borrowed by the county, Green said.
yovich@vindy.com