Heltzel says pact can be rescinded

A contract for sanitary sewers south of Brookfield Center will be considered today.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County Commissioner Paul Heltzel says a controversial $1.2 million engineering contract can still be rescinded even though two commissioners have already signed the agreement.
Heltzel said Tuesday during the commissioners' work session that Commissioners Daniel Polivka and James Tsagaris had signed the contract with ES & amp;C International of Youngstown.
The contract calls for ES & amp;C to engineer the $6 million to $8 million Scott Street project in Newton Township that will provide sanitary sewers to a low-to-moderate-income area.
Didn't follow rules
Heltzel said the awarding of the contract didn't follow newly established rules adopted by the commissioners. These rules are supposed to bring in outside professionals to analyze the performance of professional-service companies and take politics out of the process.
Earlier this month, Heltzel was outvoted 2-1 to approve the agreement with ES & amp;C.
Heltzel suggested that the engineering work be split in two, and Tsagaris had said he might agree to that. Polivka favored ES & amp;C to do the work, though he agreed to discuss the issue.
Surprised at contract
Tuesday, Heltzel expressed surprise after being informed Monday by Atty. Ned Gold, who represents ES & amp;C, that the company had a contract. That's because it was signed by Polivka and Tsagaris. This is the first Heltzel knew that the contract had been signed by his two colleagues, Heltzel added.
Heltzel said county Prosecutor Dennis Watkins told him the signed contract can be voided with the signatures of two commissioners.
Polivka did not attended the work session Tuesday.
"I didn't want to hold up the project," explained Tsagaris as to why he signed the contract.
Tsagaris said, however, that he doesn't want the county to get into the practice of hiring the same companies for engineering work.
Before the meeting, Tsagaris said approving the ES & amp;C contract isn't illegal.
Brookfield project
In other business, commissioners will consider awarding a $1,256,800 contract today to Kirila Construction Inc. of Brookfield for the Brookfield Center sanitary sewer improvement project.
Gary Newbrough, county sanitary engineer, said the line will begin just south of the center, run south along state Route 7, picking up Wood Street and Strimbu Drive, where the township administration building is.
The line will extend south of state Route 82 and service Strimbu Industrial Park and then east to just short of Bedford Road.
The sewer will benefit about 30 residences along Wood that have septic systems and the industrial park, which now treats sewage with a package septic system.
Newbrough said the project could begin in three weeks and take four months to complete.
yovich@vindy.com