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WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners are changing the way sanitary sewer projects are filtered through the county bureaucracy in an effort to make the process more transparent.
Commissioners said they do not want private developers meeting in closed-door sessions with county employees to pitch their ideas but want them to go through an official process.
Instead of meeting privately with county employees, the county commissioners decided all developers should present their plans first in an open meeting of the Trumbull County Planning Commission to first see if the development is in line with county plans and regulations.
The idea was presented to the planning commission Tuesday and accepted by director Julie Green, who said she would be happy to implement the process with the sanitary engineer's office.
Newly elected Commissioner Niki Frenchko and commissioners Frank Fuda and Mauro Cantalamessa raised the issue at their Jan. 6 meeting after a developer met with Gary Newbrough, head of the county's sanitary engineer's department, asking for a sewer extension.
The project has a layer of controversy because of an annexation issue. Niles is seeking the annexation of properties into the city that use Niles utilities. The project could make it easier for the city to annex land from Weathersfield, Howland and Vienna -- something township trustees in the communities are adamantly against.
The developer of the proposed project will be directed to submit the plan to the planning commission for consideration before a decision is made.
JRD Enterprises would like to extend a sanitary sewer to a 50-acre area at the corner of Stillwagon and Niles Vienna roads. Though the county's sewer plans state the area is the service area of Girard, the developer would like to have Niles utilities.
Niles has agreed to put up to $700,000 into the project, and although the extension would not lead to a current development, the developer intends to build homes there, Realtor Jason Altobelli said in June. He said he would like to build housing in the area and public infrastructure is essential to the project.
Potential development plans have not been submitted to the planning commission.
Altobelli had been working with Engineer Randy Smith on the project, but county commissioners in December removed Smith from the position of sanitary engineer, so Newbrough is leading the department now.
If the lines were to go through Girard, there would be an expense for an interceptor. If it were to go through Niles, it would require a pump station.
Frenchko said all developers should have to present their ideas to the planning commission, because it is not the responsibility of the sanitary engineer's office to determine if a project that includes development can be completed.
"(Newbrough's) job is to let you know if something can be done; whether or not it should be done, should come before the planning commission," Frenchko said.
Fuda said the new process will be more transparent, as did Cantalamessa.
"I want to see us moving forward more like a well-oiled machine, instead of certain departments being used to advance individual agendas that might not be in the public's best interest," Frenchko said.
The land in question is listed as undeveloped now, officials said, and would require changes to existing county plans.