CAMPBELL City wants company to operate water plant

By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CAMPBELL -- City officials want Aqua Ohio Inc. to take over the city's water plant.
City council approved first reading of the ordinance authorizing the deal at its meeting Wednesday.
The agreement would allow Aqua to manage and operate the city's water treatment plant at 2800 Wilson Ave. and its distribution network. Also in the agreement, which would be in place for 10 years, is the potential sale of the plant to Aqua.
Residents would see no change in their water rates during the first year, Mayor John E. Dill noted. Rates in the second through fifth years would go up at an annual rate of 4.9 percent. After that, he continued, city residents would pay the same as other Aqua customers.
The company serves Lowellville, Poland, Boardman and Struthers.
Once the agreement is in effect, Aqua would pay the city $3 million up front and $300,000 annually for 10 years; pay off a $4.2 million city debt owed on the facility; and assume the cost of any water-related government matching grants, Dill explained.
Use for funds
Much of the $3 million Campbell would get right away will be used to pay off outstanding debts and allow the city to become financially solvent, Dill noted. Additional money will go into a capital improvement fund and an economic development fund, he pointed out.
Capital improvement money would go toward paving roads, repairing storm sewers and other infrastructure projects and securing various grants; economic development funds will be used to clean and develop brownfield sites near Poland Avenue where several former steel mills sit.
The plant, which has a capacity of treating about 2.9 million gallons of water a day, is operating around 48 percent, Dill said. The water system serves about 3,500 city residences.
The agreement will undergo two more readings at council's next two meetings, set for Nov. 3 and 16. It will go into effect 30 days after the final reading, Dill noted.
Flooding concerns
In other business, a few residents voiced concerns about persistent water runoff on Coitsville Road and flooding that follow heavy storms. Dill said that the city doesn't have the money to clean all of the city's sewers, but that he hopes to repair a few collapsed ones before next spring.
Dill announced a town hall meeting to address flooding concerns of those who live in the city's 2nd Ward. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at city hall, 351 Tenney Ave.