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WARREN -- A meeting between local leaders and residents to discuss the Leavittsburg Dam has a tentative date.
The Trumbull County commissioners, Trumbull Metroparks Board, Warren Township trustees and members of the community group Our Lives Count are scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. April 9 at the commissioners' fifth-floor office in Warren.
If members of the Trumbull County Metroparks board cannot meet in the early afternoon, the commissioners will push the meeting back to after 6 p.m. on the same day.
Township trustees and some community members have been working to convince the commissioners to slow down an effort being pushed by the Metroparks board to use a $3.2 million grant to demolish the Leavittsburg Dam.
Trustees and community members are asking for the demolition to be delayed until a proposed study by DLZ Engineering Firm is done to determine the environmental impact of the removal of the Leavittsburg Dam in the township.
Township officials have asked for the commissioners to pay for the study, a cost of $40,000.
Trumbull County Engineer Randy Smith promised to provide $10,000 for the study.
Commissioners still are waiting for clarification on whether they can provide the remaining $30,000 for the study after they agreed during a meeting earlier in March to hire a lawyer to determine if they can legally provide the remaining funds.
Commissioner Denny Malloy proposed having the joint meeting.
Members of the Metroparks board responded to the commissioners' request for the joint meeting, but it needs to be approved by the entire board, according to Malloy. The Metroparks board is scheduled to meet March 28 in Howland.
The Metroparks board applied to the Ohio EPA for the grant to demolish the dam in 2021, according to Randy Fabrizio, Metroparks board president. Work on preparing for the demolition did not start until the beginning of this year.
The dam's demolition removal effort will be funded by Akron's Northside Interceptor Tunnel project.
Zachary Svette, executive director of Trumbull County Metroparks, said approximately $70,000 of the $3.2 million already has been spent.
"There are some contractual obligations that would have to be addressed if this does not happen," Svette said.
COALBURG DAM
Trumbull commissioners also are looking into an effort by Hubbard Township residents to stop the demolition of the privately-owned Coalburg Dam.
The Hubbard Township effort, led by Trustee Jason Tedrow, also is to stop the demolition of the dam. This effort is more complicated than what is happening in Warren Township because that dam is not owned or used by a public entity.
Coalburg Dam is owned by Coalburg Land Partners LLC.
Malloy has expressed concern about using public money to help a private landowner save the dam, without any guarantees the property owner will open the property for public use.
"If we do this, we will find out how many private wells there are in the county, as others will step forward seeking help to upgrade or breach their dams."
Mauro Cantalamessa questions the financial ramifications of the county assisting private landowners.