WELLSVILLE - Having approved the pursuit of funding for a pair of service extension projects, the Buckeye Water District Board of Trustees heard a request for another extension during a regular meeting held Thursday morning.
Board members Roy Dray, Gene McGaffick and Dave Lloyd were absent from the meeting, with Jack Call, Cal Carney, Tim O'Hara, Mike Ryan, Bob Wines and Rick Williams making up the quorum.
The board approved a pair of resolutions allowing the district to apply for funding from the Ohio Public Works Commission for projects that would extend BWD service to Shady Brook Mobile Home Park on Duke Road and Fredericktown Road in Frederick Heights, respectively.
The possibility of another project was raised during the public comment portion of the meeting when Patrick Beaver of Yellow Creek made a request for the extension of water service to his neighborhood on Forbes Road. He said that his family has lived there since 2004 and they are already on their third well, which still doesn't provide adequate water for laundry or daily bathing. "It's just to the point where I feel desperate," he said.
BWD board Chairman Mike Ryan said board members would need to consult with the engineering department to research the area, then look into the estimated costs and potential funding sources. "We'd like to run water everywhere," he said, but the district's current financial state means they have to proceed with caution on projects.
Trustees also approved a resolution formally accepting the settlement of a lawsuit against the village of Salineville over unpaid water usage at the village water treatment plant and for repairs to shut-off valves within the village service area. "This resolution will now complete the transaction for the board to approve, at which time the litigation will be dismissed," said BWD counsel Fred Emmerling.
Emmerling stated the district's case in advance of another telephone
conference with Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge C. Ashley Pike later that morning. "It is Buckeye's position that a settlement had been reached, and we've requested the court to enforce that settlement," he said. Emmerling anticipates an evidentiary hearing to be scheduled to examine East Liverpool's claim that BWD has an additional $700,000 that the city is still owed.
District manager Al DeAngelis said BWD has received and is installing its new graphic information system, which depicts a map of the district's water lines and monitors them in real-time. He said the equipment was paid for by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, with grant-writing aid from the Rural Communities Assistance Program. "They do a great job and have helped us a lot through the years," he said. District personnel have been trained on how to use the system, which is installed and functional for Wellsville and Salineville.
The next regular BWD trustees' meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 18 at Wellsville Village Hall.
