Youngstown company awarded $31.8 million contract

The Trumbull County commissioners have awarded a $31.8 million contract to A.P. O’Horo Co. of Belmont Avenue in Youngstown to upgrade the Mosquito Creek Wastewater Treatment plant on Anderson Avenue in Howland.

Scott Verner, special projects director and chief design engineer for the county sanitary engineer’s office, said it’s the biggest Trumbull County project dollarwise he’s aware of dating back to the start of his employment with the county 15 1/2 years ago.

The overall project cost is about $35.6 million. The county obtained a low-interest loan from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Water Pollution Control Loan Fund to pay for part of the project.

The county set aside $5 million to apply to the project cost, Verner said.

The loan will be repaid through Sanitary Engineer’s funds paid by wastewater customers. No county general fund money will be used to repay the loan.

Wastewater treatment plants need to be upgraded about every 25 to 30 years, and Trumbull County is not alone in having plants needing an upgrade, Verner said.