By Peter H. Milliken

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County commissioners awarded a $1,099,000 contract to Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Inc. of Youngstown for an upgrade to the Boardman Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The upgrade will prepare that plant to accept new sewage flow that will be directed there after the New Middletown WWTP closes.

The New Middletown plant is closing because the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency ruled it discharges too much effluent to meet water-quality standards in Honey Creek.

The Boardman WWTP discharges effluent into Mill Creek.

The upgrade to the Boardman plant is part of a $20 million project that will include conversion of the New Middletown plant into a pumping station, construction of a new pumping station at Five Points and installation of pipe needed to convey sewage to Boardman.

Bill Coleman, office manager in the county sanitary engineer’s office, said at Thursday’s meeting he hopes the New Middletown plant will stop treating sewage in late 2018.

The commissioners also approved an agreement with Dominion East Ohio that Dominion will pay to repair any county roads the utility company might damage as it installs a new underground natural-gas supply pipe to serve the new Lordstown natural gas-fired power plants.

“This is a gas line that’s going to run from North Jackson north into Lords-town,” county Engineer Patrick Ginnetti said.

Dominion will be using Silica and Gladstone roads for this project, Ginnetti said.

“I’m glad Pat looked out for the interests of the taxpayers and got that agreement done because there’ll be a lot of heavy construction up there,” said Commissioner Anthony Traficanti.

In other business, the commissioners added $853,529 to the $6 million county courthouse restoration project for work to be done this year, including brick repairs and replacement of rotted original wooden window frames in two interior window wells of the 105-year-old county courthouse.

The copper statues that were restored by an Oberlin firm will be returned to the courthouse roof in April, said James Fortunato, county purchasing director.

The statues’ heads will have to be reattached when they return here because their heads were removed to ensure under-bridge clearances during their highway transportation.

The southbound curb lane of Market Street will be closed for public viewing of the statues before they’re hoisted to the roof, he said.

David Ditzler, chairman of the commissioners, also recognized Ted Everett Sr., longtime county Haz-Mat Team director, who died Jan. 19, for his 30 years of service on that team, of which he was a founding member.

Everett’s funeral will take place at 10 a.m. today in Third Baptist Church, 1125 Park Hill Drive, on the city’s South Side.