NEWTON FALLS — Newton Township trustees, the county engineer’s office and the county planning commission took their concerns to village officials Wednesday about Scott Street residents having to annex into the village to receive sewer service.

Trustee Chairman Pete Augusta said a meeting took place in April 2022 between the township and the village over the Scott Street project and it was never stated that residents of Scott Street who live in the township would have to annex into the village to receive the utility service.

Fifteen officials from the township, county officials and residents attended the meeting.

Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrough said an issue has arisen on the Scott Street sanitary sewer phase 2 project, which is finished except for the county needing to come in and connect the houses.

He said there is $900,000 in American Rescue Plan funding approved by the county commissioners for the project, so the project must be finished by the end of 2026.

“The county allocated that money to get these people connected to the sewers,” Newbrough said.

He said the properties were inspected by the sanitary engineer’s office and the planning commission.

He said last month, newly named Law Director Gary Van Brocklin sent an email to the sanitary engineer’s office stating the properties must be annexed into the village to receive the sewer service.

“That has caused trepidation with the county. There is no way of scheduling the work for this project if there is annexation requirement. The deadline is Dec. 31 and there is no way this work is going to get done with annexation. Because of this, the county is in limbo,” Newbrough said.

He said seven properties on Scott Street already have been connected and have not been annexed into the village.

Augusta said when the meetings took place between the village and township, there was never an indication that the properties would need to be annexed into the village.

He said the trustees and township residents would never have agreed to the project if annexation was required.

“There were many meetings held and we were told there would be no annexation to tie into the sewer. Annexation was not part of the deal,” Augusta said.

He said the $900,000 in ARP funds is in jeopardy if it doesn’t get used this year.

“These residents will not be able to afford to pay for the connections,” Augusta said.

He said trustees met early Wednesday and if necessary will take the matter to court.

Trumbull County Planning Commission Director Julie Green said the first phase of the Scott Street project was completed and there was no indication of annexation. She said 112 houses in the Scott Street area will benefit from the project.

Mayor David Hanson said the village, county and township officials will need to meet and come up with a resolution to the situation.

“We will get together and get this straightened out,” he said.

Hanson said a former administration had an agreement set up for those wanting utility service having to be annexed from the township into the village.

“This will need to be negotiated between the township, the village and the county. We will need to put something together that everyone can mutually agree with,” Hanson said.

He said with annexation, the village would receive additional taxes.

Resident Julie Lemon said she attended the meetings in 2022 and annexation was never part of the discussion.

Van Brocklin said after the meeting he had no comment on the matter.