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Leetonia revisits water plant renovation again

LEETONIA — With water rate increases coming soon from Salem, village council is once again revisiting the renovation of its water plant.

Mayor Kevin Siembida said during a water committee meeting Wednesday night the city of Salem, from whom the village purchases water, will be increasing rates by 40 cents per 1,000 gallons at the beginning of the year, with more increases expected in subsequent years. Those increases will mean increases in Leetonia’s water customer rates, he said.

Siembida said the amount of increase is not yet determined.

In response to the increases, council requested another update on the water plant project from Jon Vollnogle of Howells and Baird civil engineers, who provided a plan in 2011 and updated it earlier this year.

Village Administrator Gary Phillips after the meeting emphasized that council is not suggesting a break from purchasing Salem water, which the village has done for almost 10 years now, but is merely exploring all its options for water supply to its customers. However, it should be noted Siembida has declared self reliance for water supply as one of his main goals in office.

During the meeting, Vollnogle reminded council members there are only two working wells in the village that were running continuously, which increases the chances of problems such as too much iron. He said one well beyond the two failed, and attempts to locate a third well resulted in a dry one and one that produced too much arsenic. And any more money invested in the arsenic heavy one would be a waste of money, he said.

Even though the well exploration prior to 2007 produced negative results, the village does have one well that is not being used (referred to as the “Bricker Well”), and other areas that could produce a sufficient water supply, Vollnogle noted.

Vollnogle also confirmed if the village is able to produce its own water supply, it would be cheaper than purchasing water from Salem. The savings would pay for the upgrade of the plant, he said.

Vollnogle said the village will need enough new wells, two or three, to produce 120 gallons per minute total to make operating the water plant efficient. The new wells could include the Bricker Well, he said.

According to Vollnogle, the estimated cost to drill and test a well is $25,000. He suggested council appropriate $75,000 to $100,000 for well testing and hiring of a geologist to assist in locating well locations. The total cost of upgrading the water plant is estimated at $1.7 million.

Vollnogle noted grant money should be available for upgrading the plant, particularly Community Development Building Grant (CDBG) and Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) funds and low-interest loans from the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA), but that the money would be more than a year away.

Siembida admitted the project will be deciding by funding, stating council must commit the funds for exploratory work or just wait to think about it. But he implored council to approve initial funding to test the Bricker Well ($5,000), with an eye toward drilling test wells in the future, noting if council gets approval for a low-interest loan, it does not have to use it. He also noted there is $142,000 currently in the water capital fund and if council uses money from other funds in 2017, the village will not have to borrow much money to drill the test wells.

Ultimately, Siembida asked the committee to commit the $5,000 to testing the Bricker Well, which if acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), could cut down on the number of other wells the village will have to drill and test.

The committee, even though acting as a whole, could not officially approve the expenditure. So Siembida asked that the committee continue to meet to discuss the issue and make a recommendation to council.

“The rates are increasing, but [the water plant upgrade] is two to three years away,” he said. “We need to continue to discuss the issue because the rates are something that need addressed soon.”

The committee will meet at 6 p.m. Nov. 2 in village chambers at village hall to continue discussion of the water plant upgrades.

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