KINSMAN Federal grant will help pay for township sewer line

Sewers for the village are still three years away, one commissioner said.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The U.S. Economic Development Agency has approved a $340,000 grant that will help pay for a sewer line in Kinsman Township.
Alan Knapp, Trumbull County planning director, said a minor item on today's commissioners' agenda deals with a notice that has to be published regarding a finding of no significant impact on the environment because of the project.
But the more important step will come at a later meeting -- to approve the grant within 30 days of its award. Announcement of the award came Monday, Knapp said, too late to get on the agenda for today.
The Ohio EPA has expressed concerns about health issues in Kinsman because many of the septic systems there are not functioning properly.
Knapp said this is in part because the community has many small lots in a small area.
Knapp said he is pleased that the large infusion of federal money is headed to Trumbull County after a year of work on it.
The grant will enable the county to run a sewer line about 2,000 feet from the former Kraft foods plant on Burnett East Road to state Route 5. It will serve business tenants at the former Kraft plant, now owned by Smearcase LLC of Andover; a future industrial park across the street owned by Smearcase; and Vinyl Color And Grain. All of the businesses promised to create or retain jobs to get the sewer line, Knapp said.
Commissioner Paul Heltzel told Knapp and county Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrough Tuesday that maybe a hearing needs to be held to explain to Kinsman residents that the first phase of the project won't bring sewers to the town -- which is about a half mile away from the end point of the new sewer line.
Newbrough said such a hearing wouldn't be official, but he said he wouldn't oppose the idea.
Heltzel said he gets phone calls from people wanting to know how soon sewers will be coming to Kinsman Center, and he tells them it could be three years from now because funding to extend sewers the remaining distance into the village has not been secured yet.