SALEM - The point utility commissioners wanted to make regarding a fix to a Snyder Road sanitary drainage line was "we're acting as fast as we can," Utilities Commission Chairman Geoff Goll said Tuesday.
The eight-inch, cast-iron line runs from a pump station on the south side of Snyder Road, crosses under the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, Stone Run Creek and a ditch angling toward the Chappell and Zimmerman facility on the other side.
It was repaired in December after a leak from corrosion from inside the line was discovered.
The danger is a large break could spill hundreds of thousands of gallons of raw sewage into the Stone Run Creek.
The line was installed in 1963, Utilities Superintendent Don Weingart said.
The pump station handles sewage from the Kent State University Salem Campus at its southernmost edge, and from Salmar Drive and the Salem Golf Club areas.
Weingart said a break would shut down the nearby Fresh Mark plant which discharges into the line. Fresh Mark is one of the largest employers in Columbiana County.
Engineers estimated the new line cost at $143,780 and a permit from the railroad will cost $18,000.
Weingart said there are two lines in the same casing and the replacement will have to be a separate line that goes under the creek without disturbing its bed. He added the Ohio EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval was needed.
Weingart said the EPA required a separate line and they might have the "whole end of the city shut down" possibly for two weeks to remove the old pipe and replace it.
Goll asked about the fees to Norfolk Southern for permission to drill under its property and Weingart it was needed before plans go to the EPA.
Goll asked if the easements were purchased before and Weingart said it was an ongoing fee.
Commissioner Primo Citino wanted to move on the project and "get a price to city council to get this moving now."
Goll asked Weingart how long it would take for EPA and Corps of Engineers' approval and Weingart said 30 days, but he didn't want to set any numbers.
Commissioner Robert Hodgson asked about the railroad permit and Weingart said it was "sometimes slow in getting permits out."
Goll said the commission was moving as fast as it could and expressed hope the 1/16th of an inch pipe was a "strong" 1/16th.
A representative for Fresh Mark, Rodney Baer, asked if there was a contingency plan and Goll said, "Don's working on that" adding, "other people in the room were looking at options."
A Burgess & Niple engineer and the Utilities Department Field Supervisor Larry Altenhof were at the meeting.
In other business, the commission asked city Councilman Clyde Brown to refer four homeowners in the Granite Street area wanting utilities service to the commission.
Brown said it was a project "that should have been addressed years ago."
He said the contractor was not required to connect the residences when they were built, noting they still drew water from wells and there were no fire hydrants.
Goll said to have them speak with Weingart and "bring them to our attention."
Also, Goll made an offer to Columbiana County commissioners to provide water to the county jail and dog pound facility, the Tobin Center, the Robert Bycroft School and the Sheltered Workshop facility.
Goll said he read where Commissioner Jim Hoppel said the ideal solution would be to obtain water from Salem.
Goll said Salem has been "blessed with a surplus of water and because of that it has the lowest water rates in Ohio."
He took a jab at Hoppel by noting he was the only sitting commissioner who voted to cancel the city's water contract with commissioners for the Elkton Federal prison.
County commissioners are planning a new sewer system for that area of the county sometimes referred to as the "valley of the forgotten" and Goll said, "we would be happy to provide them water."
He added, "We are able, willing and ready to sell water to those interested in receiving it."
Larry Shields can be reached at lshields@salemnews.net
