LISBON — The village of Lisbon filed legal action Friday in an attempt to force Ohio Edison to sell .003 acres on the east side of Pritchard Avenue and grant an easement on the west side of the road for the upcoming Pritchard Avenue bridge replacement project.

Lisbon Village Solicitor Alec Beech filed both appropriation petitions in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court at the direction of village council members who recently passed a resolution declaring the village’s intent to go after the needed slivers of property so the bridge project can go forward.

There have been numerous attempts by village officials to contact Ohio Edison regarding the need to acquire the property and the easement, but to no avail.

Beech said the Ohio Edison officials were “non-responsive to our notices.”

According to the filings, the village by law is authorized to bring action to appropriate property for public use and to determine compensation for the appropriation.

The one document requests a perpetual easement in the 200 block of Pritchard on the west side near the substation, with a price set at $328.50. The other document requests the appropriation of .003 acres of property owned by Ohio Edison on the east side for a price set at $300.

One case was assigned to Judge Scott Washam and one was assigned to Judge Megan Bickerton.

The replacement of the bridge, which isn’t far from McKinley Elementary School, has been in the planning stages for a while. Earlier this year, the Ohio Department of Transportation increased the village’s construction grant from $1.15 million to $1.3 million. The original cost of the bridge project as of 2021 was estimated at $691,349, then increased to $1.15 million and now it’s estimated at up to $1.3 million. The project has been briefly delayed while trying to secure the property needed from Ohio Edison.