Council gives 2nd reading to plan for dam estimates

The city will ask a congressman to secure federal funding .
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GIRARD -- City council gave a second reading to an ordinance that would allow two private engineering firms to provide cost estimates for plans for a controlled breach of the Lower Girard Lake Dam.
At Monday's council meeting, Councilman Thomas J. Seidler said he spoke to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official, who told him the corps has no money to fund the plans.
Seidler said he hopes the office of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, can help get about $2.5 million back into the city's original appropriation for the project. Some of that money would go toward hydraulic and other studies, as well as for sets of plans and possible repairs, all of which could cost around $500,000, he noted.
The estimated cost of a hydraulic study will be between $70,000 and $80,000, and it would look at the potential impact on the city if the dam is breached, Seidler said.
Consent agreement
The city has a consent agreement with the Ohio attorney general's office that says the city must submit partial plans by Aug. 1 to either breach or repair the dam. Completed plans must be submitted by year's end.
Any breach or dam repair would be completed by Oct. 31, 2008, under the agreement.
Many officials and others have said the dam isn't stable enough to handle or prevent a major flood. Final plans could be submitted by January 2007, officials said.
Officer in schools
In other business, officials discussed the benefits of having a full-time resource officer in the school district. Some council members said they felt the district should pay more than the agreed-upon $15,000 of officer John Norman's estimated $50,000 annual salary; the city is paying about $75,000 a year, which includes the officer's wages and benefits.
Police Chief Frank Bigowsky and Mayor James Melfi said that, despite a shortage of full-time officers, Norman is needed in the schools. A large portion of the crime in Girard is committed by juveniles, and Norman's being in the schools can be a deterrent, the mayor contended.
Also at the meeting, council added five amendments before passing an ordinance authorizing the hiring of four seasonal workers to help repair potholes on many of the city's streets.
The employees would make $6.50 per hour and have to be 18 or older. They would work until the end of September instead of Aug. 31, as stated in the original language.