Initial step is taken for agreement

The project will take nine months to a year to construct, a water official said.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The first step has been taken for the city to make money off water sales in Southington where residents have either contaminated wells or no water at all.
Under the terms of the agreement inked Friday, the city will provide an initial 300,000 gallons daily for use in the township.
The city will build a meter at U.S. Route 422 and Enterprise Drive at a cost of between $2,500 and $3,000. Aqua Ohio Inc., a private water supplier, will construct the five-mile waterline from the meter to the center in Southington.
Clifford S. Plott, trustee chairman, and Al Sauline, Aqua vice president, said financing of the line will be worked out by them.
The city will bill Aqua for the bulk water and Aqua will in turn bill its customers. Sauline said the rates to customers and tap-in fees have not been determined.
Construction of the line along Route 422 will be completed in nine months to a year, Sauline said.
Trustee G. Robert Reader said the majority of the well water in the township either contains sulfur or isn't adequate for household use.
Some residents have water trucked in or draw it from ponds that go through their private filtration systems, Reader added.
Plott said about 70 homes have no water source except by hauling it.
Sulfur has contaminated water at Southington schools and at the Ohio State Highway Patrol barracks on Route 422. OSHP employees use bottled water.
Robert Davis, Warren's director of utility services, said the city will make $150,000 to $250,000 annually from water sales in Southington.
Boon to area
Mayor Michael J. O'Brien and Councilman Felipe M. Romain Jr., D-at-large, chairman of council's water committee, said water will allow the township to develop.
"This could spur economic development in Southington," O'Brien said. He pointed out that Cleveland's southern suburbs are only a 45-minute to one-hour drive from the township.
"Growth in Trumbull County is important to Warren," Romain said.
Historically, the city hasn't been willing to sell water to customers outside the city without annexation.
"What's past is past," O'Brien said of the city's new cooperative philosophy.
"We know that this is just the first step in the process, but it was a major obstacle to be overcome," Plott said in speaking for Reader and Trustee Daniel Tietz.
"This agreement displays how cooperation between local government as well as the private sector can move our county forward, benefiting all of our residents," he added.
yovich@vindy.com