BWD Board of Trustees

Thursday - April 15: The Buckeye Water District Board of Trustees met Thursday morning for their regular monthly meeting at Wellsville Village Hall. Present at the meeting was Board President Mike Ryan, Board Members Dave Lloyd, Rick Williams, Cal Carney, Jack Call, Tim O'Hara & Gene McGaffick. Also present was District Manager Al DeAngelis, District Legal Advisor Fred Emmerling, Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch and Administrative Assistant Tracy Allen.

Columbiana County Commissioner Penny Traina was first up during the Public Speaking portion of the agenda. Traina thanked the District & DeAngelis, on behalf of the Commissioners, for the collaboration and cooperation on extending water throughout the county. Their efforts greatly enhanced the possibility of economic development in Columbiana County. Traina then petitioned the Board for their support of the renewal of the 1% sales tax that will be on the Primary ballot in May. She noted that the 1% brings in approximately $8 million a year which is 44% of the County's General Fund. State mandated services takes 78% of the General Fund which the County has no control over. Traina said they feel the sales tax is the most fair and equitable way to raise money to keep the County going. Of that $8 million, $2 to $3 million is paid by out of state residents shopping in Columbiana County. Board members Ryan, McGaffick and Call all stated they personally support renewing the existing tax. However, Ryan said the matter for the Board to officially endorse the tax would have to be first referred to the appropriate committee for their recommendation.

Madison Township Trustees Gary Williams and Roger Walker were there to thank the District for work recently done as part of the Salineville Waterline. The installation of waterlines and hydrants is certainly a plus for that part of the township. However, Williams noted that many road surfaces on Osborn, Forbes, James and Opal Drive are chip and seal. Dirt was piled on the roadways in many spots and Williams said there is no way to reclaim those spots without new surfaces. They asked for the District's help in restoring the problem areas. District Manager DeAngelis will meet with the Madison Trustees in the near future to resolve the problems. Ryan noted there are funds being held back from the contractor and the problems will be corrected.

St. Clair Township Trustee Jim Sabitini also thanked the Board for all they have accomplished in his township and especially for their decision to move forward with extending water to the Frederick Heights area. See below. Sabitini said he is one of the residents in that neighborhood and personally looks forward to having a reliable source of potable water. He said he was one of the group that said they would tap in once installed. As a resident and a trustee he thanked the District.

For the Personnel Committee, Tim O'Hara stated there will be a Special Board Meeting Tuesday, May 11 at 9 A.M. at the Water Treatment Plant. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the re-employment of BWD retiree Mark Allison as a part-time Distribution Coordinator.

As a member of the Engineering Committee, Gene McGaffick got a motion passed to proceed with the engineering of extending waterline service to the Fredrick Heights area. Engineering company Dallis Dawson & Assocs. recently conducted a door-to-door survey for potential customers in that area and have reported there are 85 to 90 ready to sign on. Jim Sabitini is one of them. At a recent Engineering Committee meeting it was decided to recommend proceeding with the project.

For the District Manager's Report, DeAngelis reported that RCAP will be conducting an energy audit for the district. The audit will be done for free and will try to determine ways to conserve on energy costs. DeAngelis also reported State Auditors are presently conducting the yearly audit of the district. The complete audit is expected to take five weeks.

Board Member Jack Call asked what has to be done to return the old Wellsville reservoir back to the village. With the new Raw Water Pump Station, new reservoir and Water Treatment Plant now on line water is no longer being produced from the old reservoir. Call stated he has been approached by members of the community on the subject. BWD Legal Advisor, Attorney Fred Emmerling said he will schedule a meeting with Wellsville officials in hopes to have a resolution ready for next month's Board meeting.

The old reservoir was turned over to the District when it was first formed. All real estate, buildings and tools were deeded over with a reversion clause that states everything will go back to Village ownership once it is no longer needed to produce water. According to newspaper accounts it first has to be determined if that piece of property is included in property liens involved with the East Liverpool lawsuit.

For Project Reports, DeAngelis reported that Tucson, Inc. now has 2,580 linear feet of waterline installed for Phase B of the Salineville project. Sugar Excavating is performing reclamation work left undone because of the winter weather on Phase A of that project.

Being no Old Business or New Business the meeting was adjourned at 9:30. Next regular Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 20 at 9 A.M. at Wellsville Village Hall.

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