Lordstown village engineer Chris Kogelnik . left, addresses the Lordstown Board of Public Affairs over getting water fro Warren for the Trumbull Energy Center. ...Staff photo/Bob Coupland

LORDSTOWN — Both the village council and the Board of Public Affairs at separate meetings Tuesday gave their approval to proceed with a water-service agreement with Warren for Clean Energy Future LLC, keeping the Trumbull Energy Center project alive.

By a 3-0 vote, the Board of Public Affairs at its afternoon meeting recommended village council contract with Warren for water service, and two hours later, village council did so, passing it 5-1 as an emergency measure.

Bill Siderewicz, president of the Massachusetts-based Clean Energy Future-Trumbull LLC, attended both meetings, which both had more than 50 people in attendance.

“The village has been at the table the entire time this has been discussed,” Siderewicz said. “We went to the MVSD over a year and a half ago asking if they wanted to supply water to our project, and we were told they did not have enough capability.

“We could not let the project die, so we went and knocked on Warren’s door about supplying water,” Siderewicz said.

The $1 billion project nearly pulled up stakes and left over the MVSD vs. Warren water issue. Mayor Arno Hill and Board of Public Affairs member Michael Sullivan each said MVSD officials had informed them they did not want to see the project stopped and stepped back so the project could go forward.

Not everyone in attendance was pleased. Resident Theresa Biggs said residents are not against TEC but want to keep Warren water out of the village.

“Why choose Warren over Niles? It makes me very suspicious,” she said.

The proposed 24-inch diameter line from Warren would provide millions of gallons to the plant per day for 100 percent of the plant’s needs, plus have some extra capacity for the village, according to Clean Energy Future.

Siderewicz said groundbreaking is planned for this summer, with the plant ready for operations by summer 2025.

Officials have said the project would bring $85 million in taxes and fees to the village and $660,000 per year to the BPA.

The decisions come after months of debate about the project, as plans for this second power plant have been caught between the Board of Public Affairs and entities that would need to provide water to the new plant.

State leaders and local union representatives voiced their opinions Tuesday on the plant, agreeing it would bring business to the Valley and create more opportunity for the area.

Resident Mark McGrail told council the BPA’s decision was a mistake, noting council represents the citizens of the village and not developers and corporations.

“You only were presented with only one option, which is not the best option for the village residents. Get another proposal and vote for the people you represent,” McGrail said.

He said the plant can exist with MVSD water.

He said the action taken by council and BPA “swept the residents of Lordstown under the table” and they have been told “to bite the bullet for the Valley.”

Councilman Lamar Liming said he has received calls from residents about eminent domain and possible taking of village land by TEC or Warren for construction of the Warren waterline. Solicitor Paul Dutton said TEC is not a public government agency and would have no eminent domain capability, and Warren only would have eminent domain within its own city jurisdiction.

“Neither has any authority to take land within the village,” he said.

Dutton told the BPA before its vote the matter has gone on long enough and it is the board’s duty to vote one way or another on the issues.

Councilman Robert Bond, who cast the “no” vote, said he has nothing against TEC coming to the village but had concerns with the contract of Warren potentially running waterlines to undeveloped areas of the village.

Village Engineer Chris Kogelnik said the project has required officials to think and react quickly. He said discussions of the plant’s water source have been going on for half a year.

“I as your village engineer recommend proceeding with the proposed Warren water agreements,” he said.

Resident William Catlin said the TEC has benefited the schools with funds that helped tear down an old building and build a new athletic track complex. He said Siderewicz has helped the schools financially with projects, keeping them from turning to the voters for levies.

The waterline project was tabled in late June by the Board of Public Affairs.

Board of Public Affairs President Kevin Campbell said the board members wanted to make sure everything was in place.

Siderewicz has said a permit from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will allow Trumbull Energy Center to bypass Lordstown’s wastewater system and discharge wastewater into Mud Creek.

That permit, Siderewicz said, is based on the chemical composition of Warren’s water, not MVSD’s water, and his engineers have told him a new permit would take a couple of months to restart.

bcoupland@tribtoday.com