STEUBENVILLE — The owner and developer of the Washington Street hill property where grave markers were uncovered a week ago during site preparation reassured city officials and residents Tuesday that they “want to do what’s right.”

Woda Cooper Companies is building a 50-unit senior housing complex on the site, located behind The Laundromat at the intersection of Washington Street and McDowell Avenue. Site preparation, however, was halted after crews uncovered grave markers dating back a century or more.

Woda founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Woda and Plat Communities developer Tom Simons told council they “want to make sure we do the right thing” with regard to the property — a Catholic cemetery that was closed in the early 1880s — explaining a ground-penetrating radar operator found at least 20 “anomalies” at the site. Those anomalies merit further study by an archaeological consultant, he said, though at this point no one can say definitively that there won’t be more or what, if anything, he or she will find.

The anomalies, he said, indicate the ground was “disturbed” at some point but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to find human remains on site.

“I said, ‘Wow, anomalies’ but they said it could be a lot of different things,” he said, pointing out, “Even for the smallest things that showed up they put a little flag on. There were some anomalies that were bigger, there were some that were smaller. He did a large portion of the site but you may see some more — he’s still going to come back and do the lower section.”

Woda attorney Michael Shaheen said they also pulled the title work for the property and determined that the cemetery was originally owned by the Diocese of Cincinnati and years later transferred to the Columbus Diocese. The Diocese of Steubenville didn’t come into being until 1943.

Shaheen also said it’s not the first time the company has encountered forgotten cemeteries but, unlike many states, Ohio Revised Code is very specific in its regulations for disinterring and reinterring human remains. There’s also a whole other set of rules for handling grave markers that might be found.

“There are no corners to be cut, everybody has to know how and when we do it,” Shaheen said, pointing out that, “Just because there are 20 or so anomalies doesn’t mean there are 20 head stones.”

Shaheen also said they’ve narrowed the list of archeological consultants down to “two or three” who are familiar with the Steubenville area with the expertise the job requires and should be ready to make their selection within the week.

Once that decision is made, he said, “then they’ll come back and determine, site-by-site” what must be done.

“It isn’t something we can solve in a day … it might take up to a day per anomaly,” he added. “It could be 20-30 days before we can come back and say to you there are no human remains orb.”

Jeffrey Woda called it “an unfortunate situation, but it’s something we want to address in the right way.”

“We’re hopeful that we find nothing,” he said. “But we’re going about it in a way that is lawful and will provide dignity for those in case the worst case scenario comes out.”

They told Flora VerStraten-Merrin, president of the Jefferson County Genealogical Society, she will have access to the site to clean stones, record information and photograph any markers found.

Woda and Simons said work was halted when the grave markers were uncovered, but VerStraten-Merrin voiced concern that several truckloads of dirt were reportedly removed from the site before that happened. The men said they weren’t aware that any had been removed and if it was, they’d find out where it was taken.