Sewer project to aid group that helps disabled

July 21, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

COITSVILLE

A small expansion of a sanitary-sewer line could mean the beginning of a large amount of economic development in an unincorporated section of U.S. Route 422, Mahoning County commissioners and a few elected officials say.

“One of the first things new businesses look for are sewer and waterlines. That makes it more palatable for businesses to set up in a corridor,” Commissioner Anthony T. Traficanti said during Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony at Iron and String Life Enhancement’s Purple Cat to usher in the McCartney Road Sanitary Sewer Extension Improvement project.

The 2,500-foot line will begin at the Purple Cat, 4738 McCartney Road (Route 422), and connect to a sewer line to the west, noted county Engineer Patrick T. Ginnetti.

The work should take a few months, Ginnetti said.

Rudzik Excavating Inc. of Struthers was awarded the contract for the $599,040 project.

ISLE’s Purple Cat, which also includes a 52-acre farm, helps clients with developmental challenges find jobs while offering a day program focused on adult education. The effort also encourages clients to maintain cognitive abilities and develop new ones.

The extended sanitary-sewer line will be a major step forward for the facility’s tentative development plans, and will help to make uneven portions of the property more wheelchair-accessible and safer, noted Jimmy Sutman, ISLE’s executive director.

Plans include a camping area with up to 12 cabins, a shower house with restrooms, a cafeteria and a swimming pool with complementary changing rooms, said Sutman, who praised his employees for helping to make the sewer-line work possible.

In addition, the project will save the Purple Cat from having to install a more-expensive commercial septic system, he continued.

Beyond benefiting the Purple Cat, the sanitary-sewer line has the potential to attract new businesses to the area, possibly extending the 2 miles to the Ohio-Pennsylvania line, Coitsville Township Trustee Phyllis Johnson predicted.

The project is the first phase toward bringing added economic vitality to the township, Johnson said.

Making additional remarks were Commissioners David C. Ditzler and Carol Rimedio-Righetti.