Funding for Meadowbrook sewer project coming along

Work in Warren Township hinges on $3 million grant from Army Corps of Engineers

WARREN TOWNSHIP -- A funding proposal package nearly is lined up for one of last sanitary sewer projects mandated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Eighty-five percent of the $5.344 million estimated cost of the Meadowbrook Phase 1 Sanitary Sewer Project in Warren Township will be funded with grants, as long as a $3 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 594 grant comes through, said Gary Newbrough, Trumbull County deputy sanitary engineer. The application process for the grant is lengthy, and a large portion of the project is dependent on it, Newbrough said.

Out of the 18 projects mandated by the Ohio EPA, the Meadowbrook project -- with an estimated cost of $20 million over five phases -- and a $20 million project in Hubbard are the last, and they were saved for last because of the difficulty and expense in solving the sanitary sewer issues in the targeted areas.

The Meadowbrook project covers an area along the Mahoning River and requires a 250,000-gallon-per-day package treatment plant -- a small sewage processing plant -- to treat the sewage, which increases the cost of the project. The first phase of the project would cover parts of North Leavitt Road NW and Meadowbrook Drive, starting with 70 initial connections along the path and with the option to add 575 total connections.

A $750,000 Ohio Public Works grant, a $550,000 Community Development Block Grant / Residential Public Infrastructure Program grant, a $250,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant and a zero percent interest loan of about $800,000 from the Ohio EPA would fund the rest of the project.

The low amount of debt for the project means the people who connect to it will have a capital charge of about $30 per month, relatively low for such an expensive project, Newbrough said.

This project and the 17 others were within the 2007 consent decree between Trumbull County and the Ohio EPA "due to failed off-lot septic systems that have created a threat to health and safety of not only the 575 residences in the immediate area, but also anyone who comes in contact with the septic effluent downstream of the project area," Newbrough stated in an email discussing a letter of support U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan's office composed urging the Army Corps of Engineers to support the project.

Warren Township Trustee Ed Anthony said residents in the area do not want to see the project pushed back again.

"We really need help," Anthony said.

After the first phase of the Meadowbrook project is completed, the office could consider boring underneath the river to bring services to the neighborhoods and businesses on the other side, Newbrough said.

Newbrough said he wants to finish the last two projects on the OEPA's list by 2025 and 2030.

Anthony said many in Warren Township could also use county water. Newbrough said if the federal government does decide to invest in infrastructure, there could be a wave of funds that would help his office do more.