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Officials promote sewer project
Sewer installation is ‘a good day for public health,’ the health commissioner says.
POLAND — A new $2.7 million sanitary sewer line will bring multiple benefits to area residents, speakers said at a Mahoning County Commissioners’ meeting here Thursday.
Annette DiVito, Poland Township trustee, said the project would bring public health benefits to an area where septic systems have been failing and would promote economic development along U.S. Route 224.
She was referring to the moratorium on development that has been forced by the limited capacity of the sewer line west of the new project.
Because the current sewer has reached capacity, Joseph V. Warino, county sanitary engineer, said county officials hope to divert some of its flow to the new line.
DiVito also said a possible secondary benefit of the sewer project would be diversion of some truck traffic from Route 224 in Poland by reopening Arrel Smith Road to motor vehicle traffic.
Arrel Smith, which has been closed since 1981 because of its state of disrepair, links the township with Lowellville and Struthers.
The local share of the sewer installation project may provide local matching money to leverage federal highway funds to allow repair and reopening of Arrel Smith, Warino explained.
The new sewer will serve Luteran Lane, James Street and Poland Center Drive and a portion of Route 224 before following Struthers and Arrel Smith roads to the Struthers Sewage Treatment Plant on Lowellville Road.
“This project, once it’s complete, will result in the elimination of surface and ground water pollution from approximately 100 septic systems,” said county Health Commissioner Matthew Stefanak. “Any time new sewers are being installed is a good day for public health.” Struthers Mayor Terry Stocker said the reopening of Arrel Smith would create economic development opportunities and send more traffic into downtown Struthers, potentially bringing more business to restaurants and gasoline stations in that city.
Construction of the new sewer could begin as soon as July 2009 and be completed in fall 2011, Warino said.
Some $1,279,000 in federal money already has been secured for the project. The county will apply for a $650,000 grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission and $500,000 from the federal Community Development Block Grant Program. The remaining $271,000 would come from county funds, Warino added.
milliken@vindy.com