TRUMBULL COUNTY Commissioners hire engineering firm for technical work on sewer

The firm will be paid $134,000.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The McKinley Heights Phase II sanitary sewer project is moving forward.
At Wednesday's regular meeting, Trumbull County commissioners authorized the engineering firm of Lynn, Kittinger and Noble, Inc. of Warren to provide the technical services for the project.
The firm will be paid $134,000, commissioners said.
The project includes technical services required to construct about 17,150 linear feet of 8-inch sanitary sewer service to 154 homes and businesses in the McKinley Heights area.
Part of the technical services the engineering firm will provide includes assistance during construction, project inspection during construction, and preparation of a preliminary engineering report for a federal grant application.
Trumbull County officials have said the McKinley Heights project stems from an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency mandate for the county to correct a health nuisance caused by off-lot septic systems in the area. The McKinley Heights project is one of 21 areas the OEPA mandated the county to address because of health concerns from septic systems.
The estimated cost of the project is $2.6 million, commissioners said.
The first phase recently completed addressed the commercial development and intersections of U.S. Route 422 and state Route 169, Robbins Avenue.
Visitors Bureau gift
Commissioners also approved a $106,636 one-time contribution to the Trumbull County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Prompting the contribution was last week's Trumbull County Common Pleas court order that stated that the money must be given to the bureau so that it can be distributed to several community organizations.
Richard Roscoe, of the Trumbull County Fair Board, attended the meeting and thanked the commissioners for making the contribution.
The Trumbull County Fair is to receive $5,000 as part of the distribution.
The court order was a result of a visitors bureau lawsuit regarding past funds it claimed were due from the 4 percent lodging tax the county collects.
There was more than a year's worth of friction between commissioners and the former Convention & amp; Visitors Bureau over board membership appointments and investment of $200,000 county lodging tax money.
In May, commissioners established a new entity, the Trumbull County Tourism Board, to receive 2 percent of the county's lodging tax. The other 2 percent goes to the Western Reserve Port Authority to run the airport in Vienna.
sinkovich@vindy.com