Youngstown company awarded $31.8 million contract for Howland wastewater upgrades

Staff report

WARREN

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 151/2 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.

Warren and Youngstown are upgrading their treatment plants, and Niles and Girard are working on or finishing upgrades to their treatment plants.

Trumbull County last upgraded its Howland and Brookfield treatment plants in the mid-1980s. The county is also in the engineering phase for the $15 million to $20 million upgrade to the Brookfield treatment plant on Standard Avenue in Masury.

Customers and residents near the project should not notice any changes during the two-year construction period, although some additional truck traffic may be experienced on Anderson Avenue, Verner said.