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STEUBENVILLE -- City Council wrapped up its budget hearings this week with presentations from Water Supervisor Jim Jenkins and Utility Director Chuck Murphy, both of whom warned major system upgrades are needed -- and about the major price tags that will come with them.
During Tuesday's meeting, Jenkins said they've begun a water tank rehabilitation project "which prevents future problems with the storage tanks failing."
"We're also working on a project that will look at our water loss issue," he said. "It will be a study that looks into meters within the city as a whole and also at the filtration plant. This project is to ensure that our billing data is correct as well as our production data."
He said both phases of the planned plant upgrade will cost a total of around $20 million, while the West End water project has a $17 million estimated price tag.
"The West End is the only (one) that has grant money -- $250,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission, a cost-sharing program through (the Army Corps of Engineers) at $1 million and $5 million in ARPA funds from the city," he said.
Murphy told council projects on the horizon in his department -- some required under a consent decree with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency -- also will be pricey.
"As bad as the water system is, the sewage system is far worse," he said, pointing out that between engineering and construction, "We expect to expend $1,978,000 on the $22 million grit and screening project."
He added the city expects to spend $3,630,000 on the Phase 2 project (and) $320,000 on concrete repairs to primary settling tanks 2 and 3.
During its business meeting, council heard the first reading of an ordinance transferring a city-owned property at 913 N. Fifth St. to the Steubenville City Board of Education so it can be turned into a community garden and outdoor learning center. The work will be paid for with money from Steubenville's $500,000 Choice Neighborhood's planning grant, which it received earlier this year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Also receiving first reading was an ordinance that would declare buildings at 422 Clinton St., 1021-23 McKinley Ave., 409-415 Clinton St., 1311 Belleview Blvd., 332 Summit Ave., 1303 Ridge Ave. and a garage at 1244 Pennsylvania Ave. unsafe and order their demolition.
Also Tuesday:
• Council proclaimed Oct. 23-31 "Red Ribbon Week" to bring drug prevention awareness to the forefront while remembering the sacrifice of the late Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a DEA agent who was kidnapped and murdered in 1985 for his efforts to expose drug traffickers in Mexico.
City Manager Jim Mavromatis, a former DEA agent, accepted the resolution, which he said he will deliver to his son, Daniel, who has been named agent-in-charge of the Pittsburgh office.
• Councilwoman at large Kimberly Hahn reported lines have been painted at a pickleball court at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center. Mavromatis added the nets are on order.
• Citing safety concerns, Fifth Ward Councilman Willie Paul suggested contacting officials with the Steel Valley Regional Transit Authority to make sure their buses don't use Wellesley Avenue, pointing out "it's not big enough for two cars to (pass each other) let alone a bus."
Second Ward Councilman Tracy McManamon asked Mavromatis to consult with department heads to "figure out how to fix (the street.)"
Third Ward Councilwoman Heather Hoover and Hahn previously had complained about the narrowness and condition of the street -- problems that were compounded by a recent sewage issue in that area -- and said it puts pedestrians and drivers at risk.
Fourth Ward Councilman Royal Mayo objected, saying, "Whatever damage that was caused by (the sewage) repairs will be fixed, but as far as an overall plan to change the street, it gets in line behind the rest of the streets we need to repair."
"There are people who've been on list since 2019 and some aren't going to be on it until 2025 -- so now we're going to take one street because somebody says 'I use it every day' and jump it to the top of the list and we repair that. That's not right, that's not fair and we shouldn't do it," he said.
Hoover said that isn't what she'd suggested.
"I don't know how that list comes about, but I know the list I have only goes through 2025," she said. "So, looking forward to how those roads get on that list is what I'm looking at. It is dire need -- so was Johnson Road, but everyone on council voted to postpone it to see if we could get a grant and we got the grant. With Wellesley, I'm not willing to wait for a grant, so I'd like to see Wellesley, which is in my ward, on the list."
The repairs Mayo referenced are already in the works. Late Friday, city officials announced that beginning at 7 a.m. Monday and continuing through 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wellesley Avenue Extension will be closed from Carnegie Street to -- and including -- the intersection of Franklin and Wellesley streets.
They said the closing "is necessary for milling and paving the portions of the road that were disturbed during sewer repair" and all vehicular traffic will need to use an alternate route while the work is completed.
Due to Tuesday's general election, council will meet on Monday. The Nov. 21 meeting also has been moved up one day, to Nov. 20, due to the Steubenville Lights Up the Night festivities.