LISTENING — The Jefferson County Commissioners on Wednesday listened during the reading of their previous meeting’s minutes. -- Christopher Dacanay

STEUBENVILLE — A county resident approached the Jefferson County commissioners with a request for funding to provide relief to his area, which he said has been plagued recently by water line breaks.

Dale Poole told commissioners Wednesday that Jefferson County Water and Sewer District Service Area J, around Wilson Avenue, has suffered from nearly 15 water main line breaks since May. Seeing these frequent failures has been relatively new, he said, adding that it’s “getting a little bit ridiculous.”

“Most of them are leaks that have caused 48-hour water boils. Lines need replaced. Some cases, you’d think 50 years is not that bad, but they’re just in bad shape. I don’t know how you go about it, how you get money to replace them. … It’s extra cost going on for the consumer, for our families at home.”

Commissioner Tony Morelli said, “We are constantly looking for money to replace (lines.) It’s not just in Area J … and it’s a lot of money, but we’re working toward it.”

Commissioner Dave Maple added, “We get a report from (JCWSD Director Mike Eroshevich) every week. That report lists how many breaks, and where they were. We’re trying to use that data to say where (are) the worst places. Right now, over the years, Bergholz, Irondale and Amsterdam have been — from a statistical point of view — the most common areas of breaks.”

Earlier, Eroshevich had given his report, and he noted the department’s repairs to three service lines and three main lines, including Cadiz Road in Wintersville and Wilson Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard, both in the Steubenville Township area.

Maple said the ultimate challenge is finding how the county can pay for projects in these areas without having to charge customers more money. That’s reportedly been the board’s focus during recent conversations with the Environmental Protection Agency. Maple later added that a significant portion of the county’s American Rescue Plan money was allocated to water system fixes.

For perspective, Eroshevich estimated that replacing lines is about $1 million per line, and there are 300 total miles of line in the system. Replacements in each village would cost around $7 million to $10 million, he added.

Following a claim from Poole about the presence of lead in county water, Eroshevich said letters have been sent asking individuals to investigate their own home service lines for lead pipes. Data is reported to the EPA, which proposes plans for how homeowners can replace their lead lines with JCSWD’s help if they cannot afford it themselves.

Eroshevich said that the county system contains no lead pipes, which Poole challenged by noting he constructed his own home with copper and plastic pipes but mailed-in samples have shown lead presence supposedly in percentages around “.4 percent.”

“I am not aware of any lead lines,” Maple said, later addressing Eroshevich: “If, as a customer of the water system, he has that question, any support we can give him or anyone … we should do that.”

Maple said the county should investigate alleged issues with the water line break emergency communication system.

As for the “excessive amount of breaks,” Eroshevich said that the JCSWD in the summer shut its elevated storage tank down in Area J during a project. That forced water over to the city of Steubenville line and caused pressure issues. Additionally, projects in Steubenville and some communication difficulties caused breaks that the JCSWD was unaware of until customers reported them.

The lines in Area J are old and do need to be replaced, he said, but there also was “a lot of construction, a lot of activity” that contributed to the issues.

Separately, the commissioners approved steps to ensure American Rescue Plan Acts funds can be committed to Jefferson County’s broadband project before they lapse.

Deputy Auditor Mike Warren and Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission Executive Director Mike Paprocki approached the commissioners with what Warren said would be the “simplest, cleanest way” to go about using county ARPA funds to supplement the commissioners’ $2.5 million Appalachian Regional Commission POWER grant. Awarded in October, the grant will improve connectivity for 34 businesses and 769 households in parts of Ross, Knox, Salem, Wayne and Springfield townships.

Similar to how a previous feasibility study was conducted — wherein the county granted $50,000 to the BHJ for planning studies, leading to the ARC grant — the county would create a sub-grant agreement. As the grantor, the county would allocate ARPA funds to the grantee, BHJ, which would administer the project and report quarterly on progress and ARPA spending.

Warren and Paprocki raised the need for legal counsel over the agreement and project itself. Although the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office would be the preferred authority, in Warren’s estimation, the commissioners could advance with external legal services under a separate contract.

The next steps include Warren and Paprocki returning to the next meeting with two resolutions: One to appoint the BHJ as the authorized representative on the commissioners’ behalf and another to commit ARPA funds to the project.

Paprocki noted the need for issuing a request for proposal from internet service providers for the project, as well as potentially for legal services.

In other business, commissioners:

• Approved an agreement allowing the county engineering department to purchase brine from the local Ohio Department of Transportation maintenance facility on county Road 43 for use in pre-treating salt during snow removal operations.

• Approved the JCWSD to reallocate a total of $53,800.78 to a new line item for the Murphy lift station equipment replacement project.

Originally an American Rescue Plan Act project, the equipment replacement had bidding come in “double the cost,” necessitating the local share, according to Eroshevich.

Of those reallocated funds, $45,000 originally was assigned for three residential package plant engineering studies that the department elected not to pursue, choosing instead to prioritize the rehab projects based on their Environmental Protection Agency violation count. The remaining $8,800.78 comes from leftover funds from the package plant rehab project in Smithfield’s Friendship Park.

• Approved the JCWSD to reallocate $42,416.77 to the supervisory control and data acquisition and telemetry project conversion project, the cost for which Eroshevich said is coming in higher than anticipated. The reallocation utilizes leftover funds from the large pump station drive unit replacement project.

• Accepted Fort Steuben Maintenance’s $660,459 base bid for the McCullough Children’s Home safety and security upgrades project, after hearing a recommendation from the county’s consultant, McKinley Architecture and Engineering.

• Gave a nod to four reappointments: Roger Hilty to the Friendship Park Board of Commissioners from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2027; Diane Gray and John Hunt to the Jefferson County Board of Developmental Disabilities from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2028, and Daniel Spahn to the Sewage Treatment System Appeals Board from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2026.