Weathersfield seeks bids for hot mix paving

By Mary Smith

Trustees have Buckeye Energy trying to get better natural gas rates for residents.

MINERAL RIDGE — Weathersfield Township trustees have the township treasurer advertising for bids for a 2008 hot mix paving program, with plans to do more work on County Line Road.

Chairman Fred Bobovnyk said a list of streets to be paved is not yet available, since the township is having the Trumbull County Engineer’s office develop the specifications for work to be done. He said the township may possibly begin paving in August. The cost is expected to stay at around $100,000 for a paving program, as the township did last year. Bobovnyk qualified the estimated cost, however, by noting that he has been informed the cost of asphalt has gone up.

He said the township last year repaved about 13 sections of County Line Road, from Four Mile Run Road to Route 46. Half of the road is the township’s and half Mahoning County’s. The township portion is the north side of the road.

Bobovnyk said he expects the township will have to replace about six or seven sections this year.

Trustees have also approved hiring Municipal Publications of Home, Pa., to pursue advertising dollars from local businesses to pay for a new township map publication. The last map done by the same company was produced in 1999.

The new map, Bobovnyk said, will outline the school districts in the township to clear up confusion about what the boundaries are. Bobovnyk said maps are updated routinely every few years.

Trustees also approved the township’s opting in to services provided by Buckeye Energy, Twinsburg, which will work to find the best natural gas rates for township residents. Bobovnyk said the company anticipates being able to get a 5 percent to 15 percent reduction in rates.

He noted that Brookfield, Girard, Newton Township, Cortland and Howland are also using Buckeye Energy to obtain lower natural gas rates. The company will contact residents individually to determine whether they want to participate and let them know what kind of reduced rate for natural gas they can obtain.

Dominion is now the main provider of natural gas in the township, although some residents are using different suppliers and being billed by Dominion. The company is expected to stop selling natural gas in 2009, Bobovnyk said.