Sanitary projects win officials’ approval

Petersburg residents will pay tap-in fees of around $3,000 each.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County commissioners held what amounted to a celebration at their weekly meeting, approving four projects totaling $69 million worth of investment in the county.

Within that sum was a $4.7 million sewer project for Petersburg and assistance to the owners of the TransLoad America landfill opening for business today in Smith Township.

Commissioners John McNally and Anthony Traficanti said they were pleased that investment is also occurring in other parts of the county, as they endorsed the $10.5 million construction of a long-term acute care hospital on South Avenue in Boardman by Mahoning Valley Hospital, Inc., and an expansion at the Macy’s distribution center in Jackson Township.

Eight Petersburg residents attended Thursday’s commissioners meeting, where commissioners awarded a contract of nearly $4 million to Dave Sugar Excavating Inc. of Petersburg to build a sewer line there.

Sewer and waste projects

The sewer will serve the 153 households and 12 businesses in Petersburg and along East Garfield and Unity Roads, where it will travel 51⁄2 miles to a sewage treatment plant on Unity Road near East Middletown Road.

Joseph V. Warino, county sanitary engineer, said the project is likely to begin within a couple of weeks and take one year to complete.

The only cost to the homeowners will be tie-in fees of about $3,000.

Scott Evans, a geologist for TransLoad, attended the commissioners meeting, where approval was given for the Western Reserve Port Authority’s issuance of bonds that will allow the company to borrow $45 million at low interest to fund its acquisition and expansion of the former Central Waste facility.

The solid waste landfill will accept solid waste from trucks today and will be using rail lines to accept waste when work on rail lines is complete around July 15. TransLoad will employ 25 to 40 people when it is fully operational, Evans said.

The port authority, which runs the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, will not incur any liability in issuing the bonds, officials have said.

Other approvals

Commissioners also held a public hearing and authorized the issuance of bonds to secure low-interest financing for Mahoning Valley Hospital, which will continue to operate in its Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital location but vacate its facilities at Greenbrier Healthcare Services on South Avenue when its new facility opens on South Avenue in September 2008.

Construction of the new building is expected to start this July, said Michael Senchak, president and chief executive officer of MVH. Senchak said employment will increase by 15 to 20 people from its current 100 when the new hospital is fully operational.

Commissioners also endorsed the Jackson Township Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council’s eight-year property tax abatement for the $6.2 million to $8.5 million Macy’s distribution center expansion on Bailey Road in the township.

Jim Sluzewski, spokesman for Macy’s, said the expansion will allow the facility to provide a larger volume of items for its distribution area, which is essentially Ohio.

runyan@vindy.com