MAHONING COUNTY Officials offer help to avoid flooding

Participants must be a customer of the county's metropolitan sewer district.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- With much of the area still drying out from heavy rain last weekend, Mahoning County officials are reminding residents that help is available to avoid flooded basements.
The county sanitary engineer's office offers financial assistance for qualified homeowners to install a gate valve that would prevent storm water from gushing into their homes.
"It's an attempt to help individual homeowners as we continue to look for answers to bigger [flooding] problems," said William Coleman, office manager.
The program is for people whose sanitary sewer lines are interconnected with municipal storm sewers, Coleman said. During periods of heavy rain, storm water often gets forced into the sanitary sewer system. When the volume of storm water is too great, it can be forced through sanitary lines into homes.
Installation of a gate valve between the lines should prevent that from happening, Coleman said.
Under the program, which was initiated 10 years ago, the county will pay half the cost of installing a gate valve. The county has a $2,500 cap on what it will pay, but Coleman said the total cost of such a project usually is less than $2,000.
Only people who are customers of the county's metropolitan sewer district are qualified for the program. That includes all of the county's unincorporated areas as well as Craig Beach, New Middletown, Poland and Campbell.
Growing program
Coleman said the program started as an attempt to remove clear water from the county's sanitary sewer system. It has grown over the years, especially with the area being hit with several severe rainstorms the past two springs and summers.
"After we had the problems with such bad flooding last year, we saw a big surge of people coming to get involved in the program," Coleman said.
He said nearly 500 people have taken part in the program since it started in 1994, including 113 who joined up since last year. Boardman Township, which was hit with heavy flooding last year, has seen 88 homes join the program since 2003, sanitary engineer department statistics show.
Coleman said the department hasn't yet received a report of flooding in homes where a gate valve has been installed.
bjackson@vindy.com