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Water tower plans in the mix
By kalea hall
canfield
Officials are discussing building a water tower in Canfield Township, primarily to support growth along U.S. Route 224 between Tippecanoe and Raccoon roads.
Aqua Ohio Inc., Canfield Township, the Mahoning County commissioners office and the county sanitary engineer’s office, with assistance from the port authority, are working to complete the water-tower project, which they say will lead to a variety of benefits.
“A water tower helps to maintain [water] pressure for servicing both residential and professional development,” said Bill Coleman, office manager for the sanitary engineer’s office. “It would certainly provide the supply of water needed for fire protection, and it is a backup if there is a failure in the system.”
About 10 years ago, Aqua Inc. installed a waterline to service the area along Route 224, but lack of funding prevented the water tower from built, Coleman said.
“What we are attempting to do now is find the funding to finish a project that began many years ago,” Coleman said.
Al Sauline, Aqua Ohio area manager for the Struthers Division, said the company should have an estimate of how much the 500,000-gallon tank will cost by this week. The cost will be influenced by an assortment of factors from the cost to build the tank, off-site costs and the cost of the property where it would be built. Aqua has suggested a few places where the tower could be built, and Coleman said one area being considered is near Raccoon Road.
“A lot of the cost — not a lot, but a significant part of it — will depend on where the tank is located,” Sauline said.
Funding for this project still is being discussed by the township and the county.
“Once we fully under-stand what our cost is going to be and what it is going to take as far as property location, that will help determine the proper funding resources,” Coleman said.
Canfield Township Trustee Chairman Tony Bettile and all of the trustees are in support of the tower’s being built.
“There is no question about it; there is definitely a need for a tower in this quadrant of the township,” Bettile said.
As of now, the service area in question still is receiving the same water service as usual, said Jeff La Rue, Aqua Ohio community relations director.
“From our perspective, we have been consistently meeting our pressure goals, and the real advantage to this is future economic development and future growth,” La Rue said. “It is not really filling a need, it is more about looking toward the future.”