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STEUBENVILLE -- The Jefferson County commissioners on Thursday discussed several ongoing water and sewer projects.
The $11 million Amsterdam sewer projects has been progressing but now has become bogged down with residents not signing rights-of-way agreements with the county.
Tom Hartwig of Arcadis, the county's engineering consultant, said several meetings have been held for residents to sign the agreements, but about 60 percent of the rights of way needed haven't been signed. Village council has now become involved in the process. Councilmembers and representatives of the county water and sewer department and Arcadis will be going door to door next week to get signatures on the agreements.
Hartwig said several property owners have multiple rights-of-way agreements.
He said he won't become too worried about the project until after next week.
Hartwig said funding for the project may be put in jeopardy if the agreements aren't signed.
"We still have several months," Hartwig said.
About 400 homes will be serviced with the sewer system, with about one-fourth of them located in Carroll County. The sewer system is needed because of faulty septic tanks, said Michael Eroshevich, county water and sewer department director. Raw sewage is being dumped into Yellow Creek.
Eroshevich said the project will cost about $11 million, with the county receiving about 70 percent of the cost in the form of grants.
Commissioner David Maple said he wants the commissioners to be informed well ahead of the need to file for eminent domain actions.
"We don't want to push the project behind schedule," he said.
The county has taken over the Smithfield sewerage system after the village couldn't complete state-mandated improvements. Hartwig said the project will go to bid later this year.
The county also took over the Smithfield water system. The county plans to build a new water tank in the village.
The former tank, built in 1938, was taken out of service because of numerous leaks.
The new 200,000-gallon tank, double the size of the old one, is expected to cost around $1.7 million, which includes demolition of the existing tank. The tank supplies water to about 560 customers in Smithfield, Piney Fork and Dillonvale Ridge.
The county recently received a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant for the project, in addition to $300,000 each in grants and loans from the state Environmental Protection Agency and $150,000 in a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Hartwig said the project will be ready to go to bid in about two months.
Arcadis is working on an ultraviolet disinfection process at the Barbers Hollow wastewater treatment plant. Eroshevich said chlorine gas is currently used for the process, and he said suppliers are getting away from selling tanks of chlorine gas.
The project is expected to cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars.
The county is working on replacing the Ridgeland wastewater treatment plant outside of Toronto. Hartwig said about 70 percent of the engineering work is complete. The project may be bid in 2020.
Commissioners approved attorney fees in the amount of $45,552 for February for indigent criminal defendants.
Commissioner Thomas Graham, who is on the board of directors for the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, said the organization is lobbying for the state to pay more for attorney fees or pay the entire amount. He said for the first time there appears to be some movement.
"It is affecting counties badly all over the state," he said.
Commissioners opened three bids on behalf of the county engineer's department for the removal of trees along various county roads. The estimate was $80,000, with Ecotree Services of Lorain submitting the apparent low bid of $70,744.
Commissioners tabled a request by Brush Creek Township to transfer about $55,000 out of the township's fire fund to be used in part to purchase a new $151,000 dump truck, with salt spreader box and plow. Commissioners said the request has to be approved by the state tax commissioner and not the commissioners.
Graham, who chairs the county's self-insured hospitalization committee, said the county board of health has decided to join the county's program instead of buying its own health insurance for employees. Graham said the board of health joining the county program will have no adverse impact.
Commissioners approved the transfer of $26,000 within the drug task force accounts to be used to purchase new bulletproof vests for the county's special response team. The county will be reimbursed 75 percent of the cost of the vests through a recently received grant by the special response team.