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NEWTON TOWNSHIP -- Township officials said they are satisfied with the action taken by New Falls village council to not require residents on Scott Street to annex into the village to receive sanitary sewer service.
Trustee John Nemet said at their meeting Monday that the motion passed by village council will help the residents who are part of the sanitary sewer project in its second phase.
Officials said at public meetings held about the Scott Street project there was never an indication that the residents would need to annex into the village for that utility.
Trustee Doreen Lutz said trustees and Trumbull County officials did their homework in being prepared for what would happen if the annexation were to take place.
She said officials are glad the council took that action at a recent meeting.
Nemet said if the village had required annexation they would have had to pay back a $2.9 million loan to the Environmental Protection Agency for the project if there was annexation that delayed the project.
Newton Falls Law Director Gary VanBrocklin had said originally that a prior ordinance required anyone who connects to the village for utilities needed to annex into the village, but the ordinance passed recently by council exempts the requirement only for the Scott Street sewer project.
Van Brocklin had previously sent an email to the county sanitary engineer's office stating the properties must be annexed into the village to receive the sewer service. Newton Township trustees, the county sanitary engineer and planning commission officials attended a July village council meeting expressing concerns about the annexation issue.
Trustee Chairman Pete Augusta said meetings that 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 sewer service. He said trustees and township residents would never have agreed to the project if annexation was required.
County Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrough said the Scott Street sanitary sewer phase 2 project is finished except for the county needing to come in and connect the houses.
Newbrough said there is $900,000 in American Rescue Plan funding approved by the county commissioners for the project that needs to be used by the end of the year.
Councilman Brian Axiotis, 2nd Ward, had said village officials are cleaning up from a previous administration since the village is running a sewer line to township residents on Scott Street, which is in the city.
VanBrocklin said the sewer line is being installed with grant funding and if the project is not done, the funds would need to be returned.
"The village owns the sewer line no matter what. There was an EPA mandate to get this project done," VanBrocklin said.
VanBrocklin said he will have legislation in the future concerning tap-in fees and rates for the residents of Scott Street.
Newbrough said previously that seven properties on Scott Street already have been connected and have not been annexed into the village.
Trumbull County Planning Commission Director Julie Green said previously 112 houses in the Scott Street area will benefit from the project.