Chesapeake – Crews should complete rehab work this week on the Union-Rome Sewer District’s lines along Pemberton Avenue.

Monday, May 01, 2000

Chesapeake – Crews should complete rehab work this week on the Union-Rome Sewer District’s lines along Pemberton Avenue. Village residents learned at Thursday night’s county commission meeting that once the Pemberton Avenue sewer rehabilitation is complete, it will mean future savings to sewer customers.

"It should finish in the next few days," said Doug Cade of the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization, who is serving as project manager for commissioners.

The work involves relining existing sewer lines that date back to the mid-1930s and will reduce the amount of groundwater seeping into the sanitary sewer system, Cade said.

The sewer treatment plant has been plagued for years with capacity problems, which officials attributed to too much storm water entering the system.

The Chesapeake work will eliminate some of the problem, meaning fewer capacity problems in the future, Cade said.

That result, coupled with the extended life the relining will provide and a separate storm sewer project in Chesapeake, will keep customer costs down in the future, he said.

Many village sewer customers might not have known the sewer line project had even started because crews are using a special process that does not require tearing up the streets, commission president Bruce Trent said.

Workers place a special form-fitting pipe inside the old pipe, then send remote control cutting machines inside to cut out holes for the lines coming from people’s homes, Cade said.

The project was provided through grant funding, which also lowers costs to sewer customers, Trent said.

Commissioners referred several road complaints Thursday night to township trustees and the engineer’s office.

Residents of Booth Eaton Road and Dog Town Road requested speed studies, complaining that drivers are speeding on the roads now that they are paved and that 55 miles per hour is too fast for the curves and hills.

Commissioners forwarded the request to county engineer David Lynd, asking it become a priority because of the safety issue, Trent said.

The county referred a request for 20 mph speed limit signs on Township Road 1412 and River Drive to Union Township trustees.

Commissioners also referred requests from a resident of County Road 66 to fix a blocked ditch and from a resident of County Road 52 to fix a road that is caving in to the county engineer.

In other action Thursday night:

– Commissioners granted $1,800 to the Burlington Concerned Citizens for continued park improvements. They also provided the Village of Chesapeake with $1,800 for park work planned on land that was donated to the village by a local resident.

– Tabled a request from the Lawrence County Firefighters Association for $1,046 in financial assistance.

– Approved an airport grant application that requires $9,300 in matching funds from the county. The county does not have to take the grant if it’s approved, but the application must be in by May 1, Trent said.