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WARREN -- The attorney representing Trumbull County commissioners has prepared a proposed agreement among the county, Ultium Cells LLC and the village of Lordstown for sanitary sewer services for the new battery cell plant being constructed near the old General Motors plant.
The proposal will be sent to attorneys representing the company and the village for their approval in the next few days, attorney Dan Thomas told commissioners Tuesday.
The agreement includes the county's rate for transporting the waste from the new plant -- $6.66 per 1,000 gallons. From that fee, the county will pay to get the sewage treated in a city of Warren waste treatment plant. Warren charges the county $3.49 per 1,000 gallons to treat the waste.
The proposal includes a 60-cent-per-1,000-gallon fee for Lordstown. The proposal recognizes the company as the village's customer.
If the village and the company accept the agreement, it will settle a dispute between the county and the village over whose customer the plant should be and what should be charged. Lordstown would handle billing the company in exchange for the fee.
Because the company will be Lordstown's customer, the county will not collect a tap-in fee from the company. Because the county does not charge other governments tap-in fees, the county also will not collect a tap-in fee from the village either.
"It is up to Lordstown to charge a tap-in fee, since they will own it," Thomas said.
Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill said he will review the proposal once he receives it. The village does not charge tap-in fees to its customers, Hill said. The village is expected to handle the construction of a 1,600-foot pipe to connect the new construction to the county's lines.
Thomas said the tap-in fee issue seems to be settled for this case: since the company won't be the county's customer, it won't have the right to charge a tap-in fee that could have been $1.8 million. But Thomas said he is recommending commissioners send a request to the Ohio Attorney General's Office to determine its rights and limitations in calculating and waiving tap-in fees in future sanitary sewer agreements.
The deal, if accepted, includes a clause that prevents the agreement from setting a precedent, because the circumstances are unique.
The county has limitations when it comes to sewer agreements in Lordstown, because the village created its own sewer district, and there are prior court cases and settlements that determine how the county and the village can handle the arrangements.
"We're ready to go; we're ready to get this finalized," Thomas said.
rfox@tribtoday.com