Bidding problem delays sewer project

WARREN — The controversial Lakeshore sewer project in Bazetta Township has been delayed again.

Rex Fee, executive director of the Trumbull County sanitary engineer’s office, reported to county commissioners Tuesday that there will be a delay in awarding construction bids for the project because of flaws in the bid documents.

Jim Brutz, an assistant county prosecutor who handles legal matters for the office, said the office asked its consulting engineers, ES&C International of Youngstown, to separate the electrical part of the project from the other parts to reduce costs.

ES&C, however, did not remove all of the electrical items from the general bid package, causing confusion for the companies bidding on the project, Brutz said.

Jim Jones, project engineer with the sanitary engineer’s office, said the project will be rebid, which will set the job back about six weeks.

The project will provide sanitary sewers to about 60 homes in the Lakeshore Drive area on the west side of Mosquito Lake.

The neighborhood was identified by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as one of the county’s worst unsewered areas of concern because untreated sewage has been leaving septic systems and entering the lake.