Trumbull residents part of county gas plan likely to see price drop

Staff report

WARREN

Residents of 17 townships that are part of the Trumbull County natural-gas aggregation are likely to see a reduction in the cost of their natural gas over the next two years.

Tom Bellish, president of Buckeye Energy Brokers of Twinsburg, which handles the aggregation for the county, said he’s hoping to secure a rate of about $4.50 per per thousand cubic feet.

That rate would be in effect for the November billing and for 27 months after that. The county commissioners approved a resolution at Wednesday’s meeting giving Bellish approval to negotiate the new rate.

The current rate, in effect for the past eight months, is $4.67. The 12-month rate before that was 4.46, Bellish said.

Prices rose because of the harsh winter but are dropping as a result of the mild summer, Bellish said.

The county gas aggregation includes 17 of the 19 townships in the middle and lower part of the county but not Champion or Liberty townships, or the five northern-tier townships.

Commissioners also approved a resolution authorizing the sale of $450,000 worth of bonds to be used to pay for security systems and equipment for the courthouse, jail, Department of Job and Family Services and the former First Place Bank building on East Market Street that the county acquired a few months ago.

Major Harold Firster of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office said the project is intended to provide X-ray machines and security stations at Job and Family Services and the former bank, which will house the county planning commission and be used for storage of county records. The jail will get new security cameras.

A separate courthouse security project costing about $50,000 will provide a new security station in a more-central location in the courthouse lobby, elevated and better able to process people entering the building, Firster said.

He expects that project to be complete this fall or winter.