Contract offers exit

By jeanne starmack

starmack@vindy.com

girard

A contract that allows a natural-gas collection pipeline under property near the lower lake in Girard would be void if the line isn’t installed within 12 months.

The council approved the contract 5-2 at its meeting April 28.

City Law Director Brian Kren said Friday that the contract with Halcon Resources Corp. cannot be signed until 30 days after passage.

Halcon asked for the agreement with Girard so it can run the planned 14-mile pipeline from Vienna to a fuel depot in Lordstown.

Halcon announced in March, however, that it is pulling back its drilling operations in the Utica Shale in Northeast Ohio because of disappointing results there during the second half of 2013.

The 12-month window is available to the company if it wants to abandon the plan.

The agreement would mean $150,500 to the city for a 40-foot easement on city property west of the lake.

Several residents had expressed concerns to the city council about the possibility of the line’s breaking.

Councilman Joe Shelby, chairman of council’s building and grounds committee, has said council was told the 14- or 16-inch pipes are welded and epoxy-coated, heavier than industry standards, and would be buried a minimum of 48 inches deep.

He said the line should not affect any future plans to refill the lake, which is now dry.

The two council members who voted against the contract were Larry Steiner and John Moliterno. Steiner said Friday he does not think the location is safe, and he does not think the city is getting enough money for the easement.

Moliterno could not be reached to comment.