Trumbull County officials will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 at Yankee Lake Ballroom to outline and seek support for a sanitary sewer extension project for Yankee Lake and part of Masury.
The extension would tie in 51 homes and businesses in the village – primarily on the eastern end of Amy Boyle Road and all of Brockway and Fairview avenues and Route 7 between Brockview and Amy Boyle – and on Yankee Run Road between Custer Orangeville Avenue and Lincoln Street.
At the hearing, county Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrough will present details of the project, including its cost to property owners, and property owners will be asked whether they support the project or not. Typically, county commissioners approve the project if more than 50 percent of those affected express support, but Newbrough said that figure is just a benchmark. The commissioners can approve the project no matter the amount of support, he said at a Sept. 6 commissioners’ workshop.
Commissioner Denny Malloy called Yankee Lake “a unique part of our county” and “an historic part of our county.”
“If I lived in Yankee Lake, I’d be ecstatic about this,” Malloy said.
If the commissioners approve the project, a construction contract could be awarded later this year, Newbrough said.
The estimated cost of the project is $3.7 million, with property owners contributing $474,000 to pay off an Ohio Environmental Protection no-interest loan. Property owners would pay $25.80 a month for the 30-year term of the loan.
Other funding sources are the state of Ohio operating budget, U.S. Appalachian Regional Commission, Ohio Public Works Commission and the Ohio EPA principal-forgiveness program.
Home owners also would pay a one-time tap-in fee of $1,850 – commercial and multi-use residences would pay a tap-in fee based on expected loading – and would be responsible to pay for a plumbing inspection fee of $125, any plumbing modifications required and the construction of a lateral between their buildings and the main line.
American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated by Trumbull County will be used to pay $50 of the inspection fee, and property owners who qualify because of income can pay the tap-in over five years at $371 a year.
The owners of vacant parcels will not be charged now, but will be should the property be developed.
In addition to the capital charge, customers would pay $54 a month for treatment operations in 2024, $57 in 2025 and $58.50 in 2026.
