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HOWLAND -- Residents along with township and county officials plan to have another study done on the Leavittsburg dam and want the metroparks to look at the results of that before proceeding further with demolition.
About a dozen people attended the Trumbull County Metroparks Board meeting Thursday asking if the new study by DLZ Engineering Firm recommends not taking down the dam, would the metroparks change their plans.
Trumbull County Metroparks last year approved proceeding with an engineering work stage and sediment study for the planned demolition of the Leavittsburg dam in 2025.
Metroparks Executive Director Zachary Svette said that study will be done this year, and a construction removal contract will be next to be agreed upon. The dam is owned by the Metroparks.
Svette said the project is in the design stage. He said RiverReach Construction is doing the design work with MS Consultants as project criteria engineer.
County Commissioner Nikki Frenchko said if the design work is being done there is still time for the Metroparks Board to consider alternative solutions for the dam once the other study is done. She said she wants the results of the other study sent to the metroparks design firm since there may be alternate solutions and avenues to take instead of taking out the dam.
Nicolette Darkangelo, Metroparks board member, said other information provided by the other study could be presented.
Leavittsburg resident Art Williams said the Metroparks has already signed a contract to proceed with removal of the dam. He said another study being done may show there is alternative to removing the dam.
The county commissioners and Warren Township trustees agreed Thursday to have a study done by DLZ Engineering Firm on the dam at $30,000.
"If this study comes back and says the wrong thing to do is to remove the dam, we will look at that. We will follow the science and do everything we can to follow that. We will do what is best for the environment and the entire community,'' Metroparks Board President Randy Fabrizio said.
There are 750 homes along that section of the Mahoning River.
COMMENTS ON STUDY
Gavin Switzer of Boardman, an environmental consultant involved with the Lowellville and Struthers dam removal, said DLZ "is offering false promise" since the Army Corp of Engineers will review the dam study and issue a permit for the dam's removal.
Metroparks board member John Brown questioned why the other study is being done now and not in the past five years.
Warren Township Trustee Kay Anderson said residents are upset and want a combined meeting held to hear their concerns.
"The residents of Warren Township are tired of having everything forced on them. The residents are concerned with health issues if the dam is removed and septic systems are exposed," she said.
Leavittsburg resident Eric Marsh said he is concerned why the dam is being removed in the first place.
Metroparks officials said the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments initiated the removal of several dams along the Mahoning River noting environmental concerns.
The Summit Street Dam in Warren is scheduled to be removed this year.
Williams said Leavittsburg has become "a dumping ground" for a prison and landfill and now a dam removal.
Leavittsburg residents on Wednesday met with township and county officials seeking possible alternatives to removing the dam, as many residents aren't in favor of the dam extraction.
They feel the removal of the dam will hurt recreational aspects of the river, damage the ecosystem, and create health concerns due to illegal sewer discharge into the river from many homes.
An informational meeting with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency metroparks board, county commissioners and township trustees is being proposed for March 21 at Johnson Community Center in Warren Township.