Water service to be improved for 5 facilities

By D.a. Wilkinson

The agreement will bring Columbiana County and Salem together.

SALEM — Columbiana County Engineer Bert Dawson said Tuesday that he expects to borrow money to improve water service to five county facilities west of Lisbon.

The final details are being ironed out between the county and Salem officials.

Dawson said he plans to ask the commissioners to apply for a state loan for $630,000 for the work. The loan would be repaid with zero interest over 30 years.

The buildings affected are the county jail, the county dog pound, the Robert Bycroft School and Sheltered Workshop that are part of the Columbiana County Board of Developmental Disabilities, and the Tobin Center, which is a part of the Multi-County Juvenile Attention System.

Three years ago, the commissioners and Salem officials were fighting over who had the rights to provide water to the federal prison in Elkton. The commissioners had been buying water from Salem for years and reselling it with a surcharge to the prison.

When the water agreement came up for renewal, the commissioners switched and bought water from the Buckeye Water District on the Ohio River.

Now, a portion of the city’s closed prison waterline will be reopened to provide water to the jail, according to Don Weingart, the superintendent of the Salem Utilities Commission.

Dawson said he talked to Salem Mayor Jerry Wolford about providing the water, and planning began.

Some language in the proposed pact is being worked on by Salem officials. The engineer said he expects to present the agreement to the commissioners next week.

Wolford could not be reached.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has been pushing for water improvements at the jail, the Bycroft facility and Tobin Center.

Salem collects its water from above-ground runoff. The shelter, the school and the Tobin center have wells, but Dawson said that the facilities have no fire- prevention systems. The water that is pumped by the county is full of minerals. Although efforts are made to reduce the mineral content, the water corrodes pipes and water tanks.

Under the plan, the design work will be done by July 1, 2010, when the funds would be available, and construction could start.

wilkinson@vindy.com