YOUNGSTOWN Council gives nod to sewer line, drainage improvement plans

The cost of the two improvement projects is close to $1 million.
YOUNGSTOWN -- City council authorized the board of control to enter into agreements with the state for two major improvement projects -- the installation of water and sanitary sewer lines on Gypsy Lane and drainage improvements in the McGuffey Heights area.
The District VI committee of the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments recommended to the Ohio Public Works Commission that it provide funding for the two projects, said Carmen Conglose, Youngstown's deputy director of public works.
The state commission still needs to give final approval to fund the projects. But Conglose said the recommendation of the committee, consisting of Mahoning and Trumbull counties officials, is enough to persuade the state commission to fund the projects.
"In the 20-plus years I've done this, the state has accepted all the projects recommended by the committee," he said. "I don't perceive any problem getting the funding."
Council's permission
At Wednesday's meeting, council authorized the board of control -- consisting of the city's mayor, law director and finance director -- to enter into an agreement with the state commission for a 20-year, no-interest loan for $307,271 to pay for most of the installation of water and sanitary sewer lines on Gypsy Lane.
Council also authorized the board of control to enter into an agreement with the state commission to accept a $329,197 grant for the third and final phase of the McGuffey Heights drainage improvement project.
Council gave the board of control the go-ahead to advertise for bidders for both projects, select the lowest and best bidders for the jobs, and to enter into professional service agreements for engineering design and construction administration for the two.
The Gypsy Lane project calls for the installation of 2,200 linear feet of water and sanitary sewer lines on Gypsy Lane west from Belmont Avenue near the Interstate 711 interchange that is under construction, Conglose said.
The project's total cost is $445,320, with the city repaying the $307,271 no-interest loan, and contributing $113,049 of its own money. Liberty Township is paying $25,000 toward the project, the cost of the engineering phase.
"When the 711 interchange is done, it's anticipated there will be a great deal of activity in that area of Youngstown and Liberty, and those businesses will need water and sewer lines," Conglose said.
Construction of the lines is expected to start in the fall, and be finished early next year, he said.
Final phase
As for the McGuffey Heights job, this is the third and final phase of a sanitary sewer drainage improvement project.
The city will have 4,000 linear feet of sewer lines installed or replaced in the area east of Jacobs Road between McGuffey Road and the city limits on the East Side. Construction is expected to begin in November, and the project done by June 2006.
"This is an area of the city where sewer infrastructure is desperately in need of work," Conglose said.
Homes and businesses in the area experienced flooding problems over the years, he said.
Phase I of the project was done last spring, and Phase II will be finished in the next three months. The first two phases cost $750,000, a mix of state and city funds.
Phase III will cost $477,000, with $329,197 coming from a state grant, and the rest picked up by the city.
At its meeting, council also authorized the board of control to pay a $120,404 bill from the A.P. O'Horo Co. of Liberty for emergency sanitary sewer repair work done on Sunnybrook Drive, south of Youngstown-Canfield Road.
If the work wasn't done on an emergency basis -- allowing the city to avoid a formal bidding process -- damage would have occurred to houses through backup of sanitary sewage, and the road would have flooded, Conglose said.