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Funding sought for new sewer
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County commissioners Thursday approved a pre-application to the Appalachian Regional Commission for a $125,000 federal grant toward a sanitary-sewer installation in Pineview Drive in Austintown, which would protect Meander Reservoir from sewage pollution.
Meander Reservoir is the drinking-water supply for Youngstown, Niles and surrounding communities.
Last August, the commissioners hired North Lima-based Buckeye Civil Design LLC for $30,440 to provide engineering design services for the project, which is estimated to cost about $300,000.
The county also may seek Ohio Public Works Commission grant and loan funding for the project; and users of the new sewer may also face a construction surcharge on their property tax bills, said William M. Coleman, office manager at the county sanitary engineer’s office.
Many of the 18 homes on the dead-end street have septic systems that have malfunctioned; and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has ordered construction of the new sewer, Coleman said.
Construction may begin late this fall, with the new sewer becoming available for connection next year, he added.
After tests found unacceptable levels of fecal coliform bacteria in Ohltown Road storm sewers, the county health board passed a resolution of complaint to OEPA, which threatened enforcement action against the county if the problem isn’t resolved.
In March 2015, the county commissioners adopted an administrative order to abate the unsanitary conditions.
Pineview is off Ohltown Road in the northwest corner of Austintown near the east shore of the reservoir.
The new sewer would connect to an existing sanitary sewer that runs along Ohltown Road.
The failing septic systems will be eliminated when the new sewer goes into service.
In other action, the commissioners passed a resolution supporting an application for $259,465 from the State Homeland Security Program for 10 new self-contained protective suits for county Hazmat team members, a new chemical weapons detector for the Hazmat team, and a new robot and bomb destruction device for the Youngstown police bomb squad.
No local matching funds are required.
The Hazmat team and bomb squad serve a multicounty region, said Dennis O’Hara, Mahoning County emergency management director.