Sewer cost evaluation moves project forward

The sewer line is expected to cost each homeowner about $15,000.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BAZETTA -- Residents of the Lakeshore neighborhood along the west shore of Mosquito Lake say they are pleased that concrete steps are finally happening to provide a sewer line to their neighborhood.
Trumbull County commissioners have hired ES & amp; C International LLC of Youngstown to handle engineering services that will determine how much the project will cost owners of the 63 homes.
Sometime late this winter, once each property owner knows the cost and hearings can be held, the county can determine whether the project will move to the construction phase, Bazetta Township Trustee Michael Piros said.
Residents' perspectives
"We love our neighborhood. We know it's going to be very expensive, but we want to get [the sewer system] done," said Mary Shrodek, a resident of Lakeshore Drive whose home is part of the project area.
Don Urchek, also of the neighborhood, which includes Lakeshore and West Lake drives, said nearly every one of the homeowners signed a petition indicating they would pay for having a sewer line built. He said there were only two who didn't sign.
That percentage was high enough to indicate to county Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrough that enough of the residents were serious about the sewer line to proceed with the $246,570 engineering work -- $155,070 of which the county would be liable for paying if the project did not proceed.
Newbrough said he believes the residents will agree to the sewer line after the exact costs are determined. He said they have been told to expect each resident's portion to be about $15,000. State law requires 51 percent of residents to agree to the project at the point where exact costs are known.
Project details
Newbrough said the total project cost is estimated at $1 million, and he is hopeful the sewer line will be in the ground as early as the end of 2006.
The line will be extended from a sewer "package plant" at the end of Sterling Drive just to the south of the Lakeshore neighborhood, Newbrough said. It will be extended 1,200 feet to reach Lakeshore Drive.
Last spring, the county health department advised the residents they needed to have their septic systems pumped once a year and that they should use low-flow shower heads in their homes until the sewer line is installed. That way they could avoid having to install $2,500-per-home chlorinators and dechlorinators, Urchek said.
The $2,500 instead went into an escrow account, Urchek said, and it will be applied to the cost of the sewers.
Piros said the project has been delayed in recent months by talk that the campground at the Mosquito Lake State Park just south of Sterling Drive also wants to tie in.
Trouble spot
"It looks like we're moving forward," Piros said, noting that it has been nearly 20 years since residents and officials first identified the area as having problem septic systems.
Untreated waste from septic systems in the area has been draining into Mosquito Lake, which supplies Warren's water. The problem has put the area high on the EPA's list of trouble spots in Trumbull County.
Shrodek referred to disparaging remarks that have been made about the sewage over the years and said it will be a relief to get rid of the problem, even though she doesn't think the neighborhood itself suffers from any bad smells or other obvious indications.
"We really love living down here," she said, noting that the views of the lake and relationships among the neighbors make it a great place to live.
runyan@vindy.com