Water district a step closer

By Elise Franco

YOUNGSTOWN — Austintown, Boardman and Canfield townships are one step closer to forming a joint district for managing their water and storm-water concerns.

John Albers and Eric Luckage, of the Columbus law firm Albers and Albers, filed a petition Tuesday on behalf of the townships with Judge James Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, outlining the proposed district.

Judge Evans said a hearing will determine whether the townships can move forward with the ABC Water and Storm Water District.

“The petition states what they want to do and how they will form their board and the terms of it,” he said.

The judge said anyone who opposes the district will be able to address the court before the hearing date.

“Assuming there is no opposition, testimony will be taken at the hearing, and the board will be formed,” he said.

Luckage said he and Albers will present evidence showing the necessity for forming the district during the hearing. He said they’ll review the petition, and a plan of operation will be submitted to the court.

Formation of the district will provide all three communities with a way to address storm-water, or flooding, concerns.

The townships began looking into forming the district more than a year ago after a Youngstown study recommended Boardman and Austintown enter into joint economic development districts.

As for water, Youngstown supplies water to parts of Boardman and Canfield and all of Austintown. Portions of both Boardman and Canfield receive water through Aqua Ohio, and some Canfield residents depend on wells.

If Judge Evans approves the district, Luckage said each township must appoint one trustee to the district board.

“That board would then need to get organized and start looking at how it wants to look at projects,” he said. “It takes a fair amount of time to come up with your internal operating procedures.”

Luckage said he can’t say for certain how long it will be before the first projects get under way because it depends on how the three board members decide to govern the district and prioritize projects.

He said financing individual projects is also something the board, which is a separate political entity from each board of trustees, will have to decide on.

“I think that will be part of the charge of the district board to look at what they’re going to try to accomplish,” Luckage said. “When they’ve analyzed that a bit more, the townships themselves may choose to contribute some township money, and there may be [resident] fees implemented to help pay for certain projects.”

Luckage said at this point he can’t give definitive answers to such questions, but many communities with similar water districts implement storm water fees.

“It’s hard to know at this point,” he said.

efranco@vindy.com