Girard to add lines to Liberty

The old section of city hall will be remodeled to consolidate offices and jobs.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- The city is bringing new waterlines to more Liberty Township customers.
The lines will be constructed along Tibbetts-Wick Road, from Sampson Drive to Belmont Avenue; along Church Hill Road, from about the township administration building to Logan Way; and from Interstate 80 to Will-O-Wood Drive.
On Monday city council authorized the service director to enter into a contract with Utility Contracting Inc. of Youngstown to install the waterlines.
Girard provides water to Liberty, and the city is allocating $72,000 for this project. The county will also pay $72,000 with the balance of the $707,000 project being paid through state Issue II funding.
The Logan line will connect with Youngstown's waterlines and will serve as an alternative water source to Girard.
Melfi said the lines will mean more customers for Girard and provide more township residents with water. They will also serve as a backup to Girard customers if the line feeding the city is severed.
City hall remodeling
In other business, a portion of the old section of city hall will be remodeled to consolidate offices and jobs.
Council gave a first reading to legislation authorizing the service director to enter into a contract with Kreidler Construction Co. of Boardman to rearrange the central first floor at a cost not to exceed $68,925.
Mayor James J. Melfi explained the health department will move to where the water department is located to provide it with more space.
The auditor and tax offices will merge with the water department. Employees in these three departments will be cross-trained.
Melfi said one of two employees in the tax department has retired and will not be replaced, for a savings of some $55,000.
Centralizing the offices, he pointed out, will reduce overtime "dramatically" and customers will be better served.
Towing surcharge proposed
Also, Councilman Larry Williams, D-2nd, requested legislation that would place a $25 surcharge on the towing bill of vehicles violating city zoning regulations.
Williams asked for the legislation at the urging of Melfi, who noted that the surcharge will help offset city costs of tagging and having impaired vehicles removed.
"This is beginning to be a pain," Williams said of the number of violators.
In another matter, the mayor asked for legislation authorizing the city to drill for natural gas on city-owned property.
Melfi told the city's fiscal oversight commission in August that city leaders were exploring the idea of drilling on properties such as city parks and the cemetery.
He explained then that gas companies would pay the city an up-front fee and a percentage of the profits of the wells.
yovich@vindy.com