Commissioners agree to Pineview sewer project to protect Meander water supply

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County commissioners approved a resolution to proceed with sanitary-sewer construction in Pineview Drive in Austintown, which would protect Meander Reservoir from sewage pollution.

The reservoir is the drinking-water supply for Youngstown, Niles and surrounding communities.

The $360,000 sewer project is being funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission and by real-estate taxes being paid by Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Austintown.

Many of the 18 single-family homes on the dead-end street have septic systems that have malfunctioned. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has ordered construction of the new sewer.

After tests found unacceptable levels of fecal coliform bacteria in Ohltown Road storm sewers, the county health board passed a resolution of complaint to the OEPA, which threatened enforcement action against the county if the problem isn’t resolved.

In other action Thursday, the commissioners approved a $114,669 consulting engineering agreement with the GPD Group of Youngstown for improvements to the county-operated Campbell Wastewater Treatment Plant, and accepted a grant to help pay for deputy sheriff’s overtime for efforts to apprehend drunken drivers and cite other traffic-law violators, including speeders in school zones.

For more on the meeting, read Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.