Sewers, water top county meeting

STEUBENVILLE - Several water and sewer department matters were discussed by the Jefferson County commissioners Friday, including a groundbreaking for a sewer project and a contract to sell water to Chesapeake Exploration for the fracking of a gas well outside Richmond.

County Commissioner Thomas Graham announced a groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. on Feb. 14 for the Pottery Addition sewer project.

Shannan Gosbin, county water and sewer department director, said 9,800 lineal feet of gravity sewer lines will be installed serving about 110 houses and businesses. No pump stations will have to be built.

The county has received $2.2 million in grants and loans for the project.

The county is under an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency mandate to install the sewers because of a faulty community septic system that is allowing raw sewage to be dumped into the Ohio River.

The county will be entering a contract with Steubenville to treat the sewage from the sewer system.

Commissioners also signed a contract with Chesapeake Exploration to sell water for a gas well on state Route 152 outside Richmond.

Gosbin said water will be sold at $7.50 per 1,000 gallons. She said millions of gallons of water are used during the fracking process at a gas well.

County Commissioner Tom Gentile said the contract is one-time deal, similar to the county entering a water contract with Hess Ohio Resources to supply water to one well site.

"This is a one-time deal for one well. It may not suggest what we'll do in the future," Gentile said of selling water for other wells.

The $7.50-per-1,000-gallon rate is the county's normal bulk-water rate.

Commissioners signed two contracts for the Crestview-Belvedere sewer project. Rudzik Excavating of Struthers was awarded a $6.4 million contract for the installation of sewers. Utility Contracting of Youngstown was awarded a $2.5 million contract for the construction of pump stations.

The county has obtained $4.4 million in U.S.Department of Agriculture grants and $5 million in low-interest loans for the project that will serve about 330 homes. The assessment cost will be $6,500, plus the cost of removing the old septic tank and connecting the house to the main sewer line.

The USDA informed the county in January the project will receive an additional $550,000 in loans and $884,000 in loans to cover the cost of the project.

Commissioners also:

Signed a resolution authorizing the county auditor's office to resell $6.4 million in 2004 general obligation bonds at a lower rate, which will save the county about $25,000 a year in repayments depending on the actual interest rate at the time the bonds are sold.

Requested an opinion from the county prosecutor's office about the county water and sewer department charging the Jefferson County Regional Airport Authority labor costs to install a water line to new hangars under construction at the county's airport. The water and sewer department submitted a proposal of $9,958 for materials and $6,241 for labor. Questions were raised if the county should have to pay the water and sewer department for work on county property.

Heard from Thomas Underwood of the Laborers' union concerning the lack of local workers being hired for work at gas wells in the county and on jobs to improve roads prior to the drilling of wells. He said the local Laborers' union has qualified workers with a variety of skills who can be used in the local gas drilling industry. The commissioners had approved a resolution urging the gas industry to hire local workers.

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Sewers, water top county meeting