Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrough said he is submitting three infrastructure
projects dealing with Brookfield, Masury and Yankee Lake in hopes of tapping COVID-19 relief funds.
Newbrough said he has submitted a request for funds to go toward the extension of sanitary sewer service
to Yankee Lake and part of Masury to the Ohio Department of Development for consideration under
House Bill 168. “Every community in the state is able to go to the state’s web portal and submit
applications for water and sewer projects,” Newbrough said.
The state assigns extra points if the project is listed by the county engineer, but Trumbull County
Engineer Randy Smith did not choose any of the projects Newbrough had given to him on his list,
Newbrough said. “I’m submitting 10 myself,” Newbrough said. “It’s still a statewide competition.”
Newbrough is seeking $500,000 toward a $4.3 million project to extend sanitary sewer service to Yankee
Lake and along Yankee Run Road and Brookfield Avenue in Masury. Former state Sen. Sean O’Brien
kickstarted the project with a $1.35 million allocation in the state budget toward what was initially
estimated as a $2.5 million project.
However, once the design was begun, officials realized what an “engineering challenge” the topography
of the area provides. Lines will have to be installed through woods from Yankee Lake to Custer
Orangeville Road, and the estimated project cost has ballooned to $4.3 million.
Newbrough has secured a $500,000 Ohio Public Works grant, a $250,000 Appalachian Regional
Commission grant, and, if income surveys bear out the belief that the area meets low- and moderateincome guidelines, another $750,000 could come from a Community Development Block Grant, he said.
That still leaves roughly $1.45 million that will have to be secured by a loan, and paid off by a $50 a
month capital charge to new customers who will be served by the extension, which Newbrough considers
to be “high.” The extra $500,000 would allow the county to bring down the capital charge to $25 a month,
a rate that Newbrough is seeking to establish for several other proposed sanitary sewer extensions.
A second project that will be submitted under HB 168 would assist expanding sanitary sewer service to a
handful of residents of North Stateline Road in Masury. The property owners are required by the
Trumbull County Combined Health District to replace their failing septic systems, and have been trying
to, with the county’s blessing, build a privately financed sewer extension into Hermitage for treatment in
Sharon.
“It’s tough for them to privately fund that and come up with a fair and reasonable way to divide up the cost,” Newbrough said, noting that it’s also been difficult to sustain support by the affected property owners. “Some people say they’re in, then they say they’re out, somebody moves.”
Newbrough hopes to secure $55,000 for this estimated $105,000 project. The county could take over the project and take out a $50,000 loan that would be paid back by charging a $25 a month capital fee to property owners, Newbrough said.
Hoping to tap money provided by the American Rescue Plan, Newbrough said he will seek funds for a
water line replacement project in Masury.
“When we have a water main break in the county, 75 percent of the time it’s gonna be up there in
Brookfield,” Newbrough said of the cast iron pipes that were installed in 1959. Seventy-five percent of
the Brookfield breaks occurred on Yankee Run Road, Lincoln Street and Bedford Road, he said. Each
break results in a boil water alert for customers, the repair cost of materials and labor for the county, and
an unknown amount of lost water, Newbrough said.
Newbrough is asking for $1.75 million to replace the lines on those three streets, and $2 million to replace
aging lines on Warren Sharon Road from west of Golf Drive to Route 7; Golf, Wintergreen Drive and
Spring Street; Stewart Sharon Road between Bedford Road and Route 7; all of Hubbard Thomas Road;
and a section of Chestnut Ridge Road in Hubbard Township
