Grants allow for Struthers projects

By Sean Barron

A culvert along part of Fifth Street will be replaced beginning next year.

STRUTHERS — A variety of public works projects will be getting started in the next year or two, thanks largely to city officials’ being able to secure more than $800,000 so far this year.

Details of a culvert replacement, a connector bridge and a sanitary sewer rehabilitation project were discussed during council’s meeting Wednesday.

Since Jan. 1, officials have received about $813,000 worth of grants, with much of that coming from the Ohio Public Works Commission, Mayor Terry P. Stocker noted.

A $360,000 OPWC grant will help pay for a $2.9 million, two-lane bridge over the Mahoning River between Struthers and Campbell that will be built to promote economic development and better transportation, as well as establish public and private partnerships and provide safer traffic flow, Stocker said.

Roughly $2.6 million of the project will come from the Federal Highway Administration and congressional earmarked funds, the mayor said, adding that construction should begin in 2010 and wrap up in 2012.

The sanitary sewer project, estimated at $378,000, will be in the southeastern portion of the city and should get under way in 2009, the mayor said. Work will include replacing 8- and 12-inch sewers; the project is to reduce infiltration and inflow into the city’s sanitary sewer system and decrease overflows at the Bridge Street pump station, Stocker noted.

A grant will pay for about $261,000 of the cost, with the city’s share being around $41,000, he continued.

Also slated for next year is the Fifth Street culvert replacement project between Spring and Creed streets.

The $112,500 project will consist of removing and replacing the existing culvert and part of the sanitary sewer system on Fifth, in part to provide a safer road for truck traffic to serve nearby businesses, he said.

Also at the session, officials discussed liens that have been placed on foreclosed and other properties to recover costs associated with cutting the lots last spring and summer.

The liens were installed to recoup funds the city expended through labor, explained Edward H. Wildes, safety service director.