KLEBER AVENUE Sewer upgrade plan expected to be OK'd

The project is expected to cost about $355,000.
AUSTINTOWN -- The much-awaited project to improve sewers on Kleber Avenue where flooding has plagued residents in recent years is moving closer to reality.
A motion to approve a memorandum of understanding between the Mahoning County engineer's office and township trustees to hire Thomas Fok & amp; Associates of Austintown is on trustees' regular Monday meeting agenda.
Michael Dockry, township administrator, said it's a project that will use state Issue 2 funding.
For the township to hire the outside firm, the county engineer's office had to sign off on the work, indicating that the office didn't have the time to do it, he said.
The firm will provide design engineering services for the storm sewer portion of the project. The county engineer's office is providing design services for the sanitary sewer portion.
Cost
Dockry said the project is estimated at about $350,000 with the township kicking in roughly $55,000 as the local share. The bulk will be covered by the state grant.
The project involves installation of larger-capacity sewer pipes to alleviate flooding problems. Kleber, which intersects Mahoning Avenue, has been hit with flooding problems during the heavy downpours of the last two summers. The problems are exacerbated by the elevation of the road with its steep drop-off north of Mahoning.
The flooding has affected about a dozen homes on the street.