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SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2019
harrisonnewsherald.com
Commissioners shutting down two county roads By JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com
CADIZ – The situation with Apex Landfill and Harrison 51 may be coming to a head very shortly as the Harrison County Commissioners, upon request of the German Township Trustees, approved the closing of two Harrison roads on Wednesday —157 and 158. Last spring Harrison County Sheriff Joe Myers ordered the closing of Harrison 51, the main road to the landfill, because of its dangerous and dilapidated condition that county officials say, has not been adequately taken care of by Apex. Commissioner Paul Coffland read Resolution 19-04, which states in part: “…The public convenience, safety, and welfare requires the vacating of a township road or portion of a township road in German Township…” Township 157 is being vacated “from
the intersection of State Route 9 and Township Road 157, Dump Road to the intersection of Country Road 51, Amsterdam Road and Township Road 157 Dump Road.” The distance was listed at 1.3 miles of road closing. As for Township 158 that is being vacated “from the intersection of Township Road 157, Dump Road and the intersection of Township Road 158, Timko Road to the intersection of Township Road 158, Timko Road and Louden Township, Carroll County Line.” The distance listed is as 0.6 miles. The closing of these two roads will not land lock “any adjacent landowners,” according to German Township Trustees. There are also no homes or public utilities on these two roads. “These two roads are not major roads in the township and…provide little or no service to our residents or the traveling public. It is not fiscally responsible or economically feasible for
German Township to maintain these two roads,” the resolution states as read by Coffland. Commissioner Don Bethel acknowledged not only the additional stress this will put on Harrison 51 but the ongoing dispute regarding who is mainly responsible for the maintenance of Harrison 51. “The township trustees are fed up with the basically wear and tear that’s going on that road by trucks going into the landfill with very little help in maintaining it,” Bethel explained with acting County Engineer Doug Bachman agreeing with that statement. “Most of that landfill sits in Jefferson County and Jefferson County reaps the rewards of that landfill and they have paved their roads and then made a weight limit on it, which forces the trucks to use Harrison County roads, particularly 157 and 51…” Bethel stated where he added that the county
See ROADS PG. 7
Scio moves forward on treatment plants, costs
Harrison 51, where its nicely paved road begins but ends with a gravel mess leading to the Apex landfill has been partially closed since last June. On Wednesday, the Harrison County commissioners approved the closing of Harrison Roads, 157 and 158. An ongoing dispute between the county, German Township Trustees and Apex over maintaining these roads has yet to be resolved.
Bundling Up!
By JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com
SCIO – Village Administrator Jason Tubaugh announced a “firm” number regarding both water and wastewater treatment plants to be $150,172. He called that the magic number council should expect of what the costs for both plants would be for 2019. “And that’s a pretty firm number,” Tubaugh said. “That’s what it’s going to cost you to produce, transmit into production and the distribution for use, your consumers. And once they use that water and they give it back to us, that’s part of your cost for treatment of that water so we can re-release it back into the environment, and that covers everything from testing, chemicals, labor and electric.” Tubaugh called the figure the “magic number” to concentrate on and again, as he has in recent meetings, reminded council that after doing the math for each customer per year, “At some point your capital improvement plan is not going to be enough.” “You’re okay for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and so on [but] it really needs a hard look at where this additional money is going to come from for generator, portable generators and your new T-6 pumps and control panels. We’re working with equipment that was put in the 80s and 90s,” he told council. “So, I would highly recommend that the water, wastewater committee get together,” he said adding that he has all the documents they need to figure what rates need to be applied and when. He said the current increase is set at 2.5 percent for 2019 but he warns them about getting caught and having to raise rates too highly and too quickly. “I don’t want to see us like Steubenville or Cadiz when you’re putting eight to 12 to 20 dollars on someone’s water bill. I don’t think we’re at that stage [but] what I do think we need to be proactive and not get to that stage,” Tubaugh explained. “Look at it now and project for the
See SCIO PG. 2
Lions Club partners with Buckeye North to deliver coats On these cold winter days, a warm coat is needed to slip into before going out into the snow, wind and freezing temperatures. The Brilliant Lions Club, in conjunction with WalMart in Steubenville, made it possible for 10 lucky children to be chosen to be wearing spiffy, warm coats this winter. The project was conducted at Buckeye North Elementary School in late December, where Kim McKnight, school aide, helped a kindergartener Lexi Hower, into one of the coats. Needless to say, all 10 were delighted and one child did not want to take it off the rest of the day.
Senator Portman reaches out to Harrison County By JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com CADIZ – Sen. Rob Portman (R) has been reaching out to various counties within the state of Ohio and Harrison County was on the list as Press Secretary Emmalee Kalmbach visited the Harrison News-Herald on Tuesday. She explained that Portman was interested in reaching out to communities for their questions
HARRISON
NEWS-HERALD One section, 8 Pages Vol. 51, No. 38
and concerns. Some of the major issues were the obvious as in opioids and sex trafficking, which newly elected Gov. Mike DeWine has been a huge proponent of fighting on that issue. And then we come to the government shutdown. On Jan. 19, Portman released a statement, where Portman said his proposal for ending the shutdown was similar to President Trump’s. Portman said he hoped his
proposal would “spark more good-faith negotiations” in order to re-open government operations. “As I have said repeatedly, we are not that far apart. We should get a commitment to provide border security, reopen the government and pass legislation to stop government shutdowns in the future. I will continue my discussions with Democratic and Republican colleagues this weekend to achieve this result,”
Index
Obituaries, Pg. 5
Area: . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 2 Public Record . . . . . .Pg. 5 Sports: . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg 6 Classified . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 7 Crossword . . . . . . . . .Pg. 8
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Walter C. Kimball Sr. Cadiz, Ohio Esther Norris Cadiz, Ohio
Portman’s statement read. Kalmbach said this proposal is similar to what he’s tried to do in the past but with no prior luck. When asked if it failed in the past because of lack of an agreement or was it just plain politics, she couldn’t say. “So, whether we’re in a shutdown, whether there’s a shutdown moving or if a shutdown is close on the radar he still reintroduces it,” she explained. “I think the
timing this round is probably a little more relevant and it would essentially make shutdowns unable to occur.” Just last week it was announced that the Hopedale Fire Department would be in dire straights if the shutdown continued for another month. Last year they received a grant (SAFER) for some $700,000 but Chief Mark Marchetta said last week they
See PORTMAN PG. 5
Question of the week
Last week’s question
Next week’s question
Do you support the government shutdown?
Should businesses allow employee use of medical marijuana?
Marjorie H. Ourant
Scio, Ohio
facebook.com/harrisonnewsherald
YES 70% (21 VOTES) NO 30% (9 VOTES)
YES • NO
Vote@HarrisonNewsHerald.com newsroom@harrisonnewsherald.com