LEETONIA Contract given for water plant generator work

The system will keep the water plant working in emergencies.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- Village officials will be relieved once a generator system is installed at the water treatment plant.
Village Administrator Gary Phillips said the village has needed the generator system for many years.
"We haven't had any major problems, but it's always in the back of our minds," Phillips said. "We've had a few outages that affected the plant, but we've had enough water stored that service wasn't interrupted."
He said if there were a tornado or some other disaster that knocked out power and caused fires at the same time, the system could not sustain the amount of water or water pressure needed to fight fires for very long.
Phillips said unless the generator system is affected as well, it will keep the water system running during a power outage at the plant.
The village was awarded a $36,000 Community Development Block Grant in 2002 to buy the generator system.
Contract awarded
Columbiana County commissioners awarded the contract Wednesday to S.M. Electric Co. Inc. of Austintown. The company was the lowest bidder of eight contractors.
S.M. Electric's bid was $25,680; the highest bid was $39,600.
Phillips said the next step in the process will be preconstruction meetings with the contractors. He would like to use some of the grant to install security lighting and a fence around the generator system.
He hopes the work can begin as soon as possible.
tullis@vindy.com