STEUBENVILLE — The Jefferson County commissioners have decided to pass on a $1.7 million grant for a Warren Township water tie in, at least for now.

Commissioners said Thursday they already have a lengthy list of communities in need of water upgrades and it wouldn’t make sense to add another troubled water system to their already expensive to-do list–especially since they don’t know how much it will cost to fix the system once it’s tied in.

Commissioner Dave Maple said their water service director and engineer had recommended against accepting the Warren Township system because “we’ve got too many projects on our plate right now.”

“Our systems … would take another step backward if we got another project,” Maple said, adding, “It’s not going to be cheap.”

Commissioner Tony Morelli pointed out a $1.7 million, no-match-required grant would be great, “but all that does is hook it up to the front of the plant, and now you’re getting a very old water system and old tank … we already have those problems.”

“When you look at the age of the system, the grant just covers getting them in the system,” Maple said. “It doesn’t have long-term plans for their infrastructure. When we look at our whole system — knowing we have weaknesses in Bergholz, Amsterdam and Irondale, along with some others — trying to figure how to put this one on top of the list didn’t make economic sense right now.”

Morelli said he’d like to do it someday, “but I’d rather see, I think we’d all rather see, what it’s going to cost to make it a pristine water treatment facility and system.”

Commissioners also learned the Jefferson County Jobs and Family Services department has received a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

“There’s a lot of work to get done, (but this) really starts to open doors to do different things at the (McCollough) children’s home,” Maple said.

Director Michele Santin said they’ll submit their qualified treatment program next.

Commissioners also joined a regional effort to show support for rebuilding or replacing the Market Street Bridge.

The West Virginia Division of Highways has announced it wants to fund the project with dollars from the bipartisan infrastructure act. To qualify for the federal funding, projects must have a $100 million-plus price tag. States can use other federal funds as their local match.

“We’re being told there’s a good possibility this will be happening,” Morelli said.

Maple pointed out West Virginia is submitting the application, “but they’re asking stakeholders all around (the bridge) to support it.”

Commissioners also:

• Opened bids from three companies –Blues Tree Service of Steubenville, Arbor Elite Tree Services of Wintersville and Hilscher-Clarke Electric Co. of Canton — for the county’s tree removal project. The engineer’s estimate was $146,00, with bids ranging from a little more than $108,000 to $146,000.

• Agreed to terminate EQM Olympus Midstream’s road use maintenance agreement and release the bond. The county engineer said EQM had satisfied all requirements.

The courthouse will be closed Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving, so commissioners moved their next meeting to Wednesday.