NILES — City officials expressed concerns about how a meeting regarding one of the city’s resources was handled, adding that they would be heavily affected across the board if things changed.

As Trumbull County Commissioners Denny Malloy and Rick Hernandez wrapped up their presentation at Wednesday night’s city council meeting, Council President Doug Sollitto noted reports of regionalization talks — namely through the county’s 12-person Water Advisory Panel.

“We have some concerns because Niles would be the one who takes the big hit financially,” Sollitto said. “It would obviously have a great impact on our city, and everybody else would kind of reap the benefits off our back.”

“It would definitely adjust our budget and hurt us in a different manner,” he added.

Councilman Aaron Johnstone, D-2nd Ward, said Malloy had spoken about the city’s pride and the people who helped build the county coming from their area. He expressed belief that the water board didn’t replicate his words.

“It’s quite the contrary, and I was very disappointed with the tone of the meeting and how it portrayed our city; we are prideful, and we took a risk in 1932 when other communities wouldn’t,” Johnstone said. “We put a lot of money and a lot of investment to keep our residents’ rates affordable.”

Johnstone was referring to the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, which was formed in 1926, but began providing water to member cities six years later. The cities include Niles and Youngstown, but McDonald was included because of a special contract, according to the district’s website.

Johnstone said the city’s water rates are negotiated, not forced or mandated.

“Those people sat across and agreed to the terms, and now they’re going to come back and act as if we were bullies in some capacity?” Johnstone said.

He said he did not appreciate the way the city was represented at the Water Panel meeting, adding that he wanted to give Hernandez and Malloy the benefit of the doubt to address it because they weren’t there.

Malloy said he had to be briefed about the regionalization talks ahead of time after learning it was an issue, assuring officials that information wasn’t on their desks about it.

“There is a water advisory board that was formed because there was a disparity amongst our users, where some were paying double what the others were paying after we acquired the water from you and Warren,” Malloy said. “That board was put together for the purpose of looking out on what’s best in our own department to streamline our department to keep rates as low as they can keep them.”

“How that meeting turned into something of this nature, I don’t know how it turned that way,” he added.

Malloy said similar discussions wouldn’t happen without Niles having a seat at the table, adding that commissioners wouldn’t try to bully Niles.

“I don’t think that was meant to be the tone of the last meeting, from what I read in the paper, also,” Malloy said. “That was a board of different trustees around the county — they were doing some talking, and I don’t believe they even had a quorum on that date to even vote on anything.”

Hernandez said he agreed with Malloy, echoing the idea that the panel was formed to oversee the sanitary division’s operations. Hernandez said he didn’t see regionalization or a similar program to be possible moving forward.

“There are too many players involved in this whole situation here — it’s not just Niles. You have other areas this water’s traveling through, different communities, and the infrastructure of that is so great,” Hernandez said. “I just don’t think it’s doable.”

Hernandez recalled the second month of his term, when commissioners were told they needed to raise water rates “tremendously” to double what they were.

“These rates need to be, like Niles does, periodically; these rates need to be raised maybe even yearly or bi-yearly, to a level where the residents aren’t going to be overwhelmed by that type of increase,” Hernandez said. “And we’re working on that right now, similar to what I spoke to the mayor about. This is what the county needs to do on a county level.”

Hernandez said the county’s water rates hadn’t changed in more than a decade.

Sollito said officials wanted assurance that commissioners would keep Niles where it needs to be without affecting them, reiterating that they couldn’t take a hit financially.

“We are not in a position, unless they come with a check with many, many, many zeros, we’re not in a position to relinquish any part of the Mahoning Valley water district,” Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz said.

Councilman Edward Stredney, D-at Large, said their predecessors made a “huge gamble” when the MVSD was created, adding that other communities have had the same opportunity.

“We’re just getting legislation to go out to do some work for AMP Ohio that hopefully will work out for our residents for the next 20 or 30 years,” Stredney said. “We’re taking gambles to better our residents; I don’t know what the answer is for people up at Liberty, but it’s not going to be on the Niles residents.”

Malloy said there is a “misnomer” out there that Niles and Youngstown gouge people, telling them to look at their own legislation.

“When you raise your rates on your residents, we have raised it; this is in legislation, you can’t gouge us,” Mallet said.

He said officials know there are infrastructure issues, noting there are 100-year-old pipes in the county.

“We’re going to have to figure that out together, how to keep infrastructure strong without raising rates on residents, but as far as the county having our eyes on reworking that deal, I can tell you that’s not on our radar at all,” Malloy said. “If it ever did come across our radar, my first phone call would be to the mayor and president of the council and say, ‘Hey, you need to get to this meeting, you need to be at the table with this.'”