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Girard won’t renegotiate upcharge

Liberty trustee proposes forming new water district

Dennis Meek, with DM Engineering in Concord, explains why some Girard water customer have poor pressure and why Girard has to buy water from several different sources to keep water flowing. Liberty trustees and Girard officials met together Wednesday to discuss the rates Girard charges township residents.

VIENNA — Girard Mayor James Melfi said neither he, nor city council, will entertain a renegotiated water contract if it leads to Girard water customers paying more in order to lower rates for Liberty customers.

But Melfi did agree to participate in a meeting with the management of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, where Girard gets all of its water, but not directly. Girard buys water from Trumbull County, McDonald, Youngstown and Niles after those entities have purchased it from MVSD.

Each time the water changes hands, the entity selling the water is allowed to charge 40 percent more for it than it charge its own citizens. So by the time it makes it to Girard residents, and then Liberty residents, it has been given a 40 percent surcharge several times.

Melfi said Girard residents are in a similar boat, paying higher rates than places like Niles and Warren.

“We need to plan for the future and develop a new way to distribute water in a way that is fair to everyone,” said Jodi Stoyak, Liberty trustee.

Stoyak said she wants to see a new water district organized that includes the communities who want in on it, instead of being bound to a system that isn’t working for everyone and was negotiated in the 1920s and 1930s — at a time when water needs in the county were much different than they are now.

Arnie Clebone, Liberty trustee, argued that if Girard has about 6,000 water customers, and about 1,450 are Liberty residents being charged 40 percent more than Girard residents are, the city is basically using Liberty to keep city residents’ fees low.

Clebone said he understands the water department is functioning at “break even,” with a $200,000 to $427,000 monthly balance. But, Liberty’s surcharge isn’t required to be 40 percent more than the inside rate, so it could be negotiated down with a small increase for Girard residents to spread out the costs more, he said.

“The bottom line is, we want lower rates. What can we do?” Clebone said, adding that lower rates in Liberty is good for the economic development of the region.

“The city won’t absorb, on its own, the massive costs associated with running this utility,” Melfi said.

“That’s never going to happen,” said Jerome Lambert, Girard service director.

Gary Newbrough, Trumbull County deputy sanitary engineer, said he would organize the meeting with MVSD management and the communities that use water from the Meander Reservoir. Trumbull County owns the waterlines in Liberty, but Girard has paid to maintain them for decades.

Stoyak also mentioned Ohio House Bill 602, introduced in May by Worthington Republican Rep. Mike Duffey. The bill would penalize purveyors of water by taking away local government funds provided by the state if they charge higher rates for people living outside of a certain community. The bill was referred to the House finance committee.

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