Topper Hill Drive residents continue grappling with sewer line issues

Residents were told their sewer line probably doesn't qualify for grant funding.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Stephanie Smith stood holding her small daughter at the podium in the Liberty Township Hall and became emotional when she wondered aloud whether the expense of a sewer line might be enough to change her plans for having more children.
"I'm looking at whether at whether I can have more kids or spend money on toilets," said the mother of two who lives on Topper Hill Drive in the township.
She had just been informed that she and her husband will be asked in about a year whether they would rather spend about $23,000 for their share of a sewer line serving their street or spend a smaller amount for a new septic system.
Trumbull County officials have said typical septic system upgrades cost around $12,000.
Either way, the news was disturbing. "I'm very resentful that I have to deal with this," she said.
Smith and owners of the nine other homes on Topper Hill learned that a recently completed study done for the county Sanitary Engineer's Department indicated that a sewer line serving their street would cost $200,000 -- or $20,000 per house.
Tap-in fees and the cost of having a lateral line installed from the street to their house would add another $3,000 per household, and monthly sewage fees would be around $25 more, they were told.
The meeting was organized by the county health board, which has been seeking a solution to the failing septic systems of nine of the 10 homes on the street since the board first received complaints about them in December 2001, said Frank Migliozzi, the board's director of environmental health.
One year to act
Migliozzi told the Topper Hill residents in attendance the health board cannot wait another four years for their septic systems to be corrected. Based on Migliozzi's recommendation, the board gave the residents one year to formally approve a sewer system and its costs or they will be forced to replace their current septic systems.
The board also ordered the residents to have their septic tanks pumped within the next 30 days and again in six months to reduce the environmental impact of their failed systems.
Another Topper Hill resident, Michael Heinzer, said he believes his neighbors do want the sewer, despite the cost, but he questioned Gary Newbrough, county sanitary engineer, on whether a sewer project there could get grant money to reduce their cost.
He said most of the street's residents are on pensions and might qualify as low income.
Newbrough said federal Community Development Block Grant funding would probably only come into play if the residents relied just on Social Security. If most residents also received pensions, however, they probably make too much to qualify, he said.
In addition, he said the 2000 U.S. Census numbers indicated Topper Hill residents don't qualify for federal funding help.
Other funding
He explained that another source of grant funding, state Issue 2 money, is only used for projects that will affect large groups of homes, such as the Scott Street area of Newton Falls, which needs sewers to serve around 350 homes.
Topper Hill resident LeeAnn Martyak circulated a petition last year, and eight of the 10 homeowners signed it saying they wanted sewers instead of septic system upgrades. Afterward, Newbrough and the county commissioners hired MS Consultants of Youngstown to conduct a study to determine the best way to provide sewers to Topper Hill.
The study, which the consulting firm gave to Newbrough on Thursday, cost $3,887. It would involve the construction of a pump station that would move the sewage to the Fox Den package plant a short distance to the north.
At Migliozzi's urging, Newbrough promised he could have the engineering for the project complete in six to nine months and a public hearing sometime after that.
If residents approve the project at that point, construction would take about three months, he said, indicating the whole process could be finalized in less than 18 months.
Newbrough told the residents he felt having a sewer line installed would be a better option than new septic systems under the circumstances. "If I was in your position, you would be permanently fixed to go with the sewers," he said.