Trending
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners want to set up a meeting with Warren Township officials, township residents and members of the Trumbull County MetroParks board to discuss the effort to remove a dam in the Mahoning River after the results of a $40,000 DLZ study that were released last week.
Commissioner Denny Malloy is proposing to have a special meeting on the day of the next scheduled MetroParks board meeting to fully review the report and vote to decide whether the county should support the dam's removal.
"We need to reassemble to review the study we paid good money for," he said. "This needs to be done immediately because there is money being spent and money ready to be spent as we speak on the dam removal."
However, Randy Fabrizio, president of the MetroParks board, said they will not set up a meeting until the board is able to receive and go over the final version of the study.
"We have not seen it," Fabrizio said. "We saw a draft of the study. It still had a watermark on it stating it was a draft."
"We want our people -- Riverreach, Ohio EPA and the ODNR, Eastgate and other players -- to be able to review it," Fabrizio said. "We will not comment on it, until we're able to read it."
Critics of the dam removal, including township Trustee Kay Anderson and township resident Debbie Roth told commissioners during meetings Tuesday and Wednesday the study supported their beliefs that the dam should not be removed for environmental and other reasons.
Roth told commissioners Tuesday the report confirmed the concerns of community residents that the removal will impact endangered species in the area.
"We have the Hellbenders and we have mussels," she said. "The report noted there would have to be adequate staff available to relocate the mussel that would be left there."
Another issue township residents are concerned about is the septic discharge into the river and the impacts it will have.
"It will create a nuisance and (an) undesirable condition," Roth said. "Lowering the depths of the river will change the dilution process."
"Dilution is not a solution to pollution," she said.
Roth also said the removal of the dam will cause the sediment that is at the dam to travel down stream.
In a letter from trustees Anderson presented to the commissioners Wednesday it was noted an old wooden dam should be removed prior to the proposed removal of the Leavittsburg dam.
"This was not included in the study MetroParks submitted," the letter stated.
The trustees questioned who is going to be responsible for cleaning up on the riverbanks or trees falling into the river.
Malloy on Tuesday said the argument presented by the MetroParks board for the removal of the dam is to allow the river to return to its natural state.
"It is never going to be at its natural state so long as there will be a dam at Lake Milton that starts the river,” he said. "We are not affecting anyone else. We can retain what we have above this dam for recreation and lifestyles of people of Warren Township."
Malloy said because the county is financially invested in the project, that does not mean they could not pull the plug on its continuation.
"It will be a money loss either way," he said.
Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said the removal of the dam directly affects township residents.
"I think we need a come to Jesus meeting with the parks board where they need to really look at this study," he said. "We need to come to a solution that is beneficial to everybody. We don't want to add anything that is negative."