PROCTORVILLE – Residents in this village will soon see an old, decrepit water tank replaced with a new one.

Thursday, January 17, 2002

PROCTORVILLE – Residents in this village will soon see an old, decrepit water tank replaced with a new one.

According to Doug Cade, director of special projects for the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization, the construction of the tank will be the third component of a long-range plan implemented by the village several years ago. Cade serves as the project’s manager.

The latest project calls for demolishing the existing 100,000-gallon tank, which was built in the 1930s, and replacing it with a new 150,000-gallon tank. The estimated total project cost is $411,450.

The state announced last week that the village will receive a $205,500 grant through the Ohio Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Water and Sanitary Sewer Program, administered by the Ohio Department of Development, which will be used for the project. Cade said the remainder of the project will be funded by monies from the Ohio Public Works Commission Small Government Program ($184,950) and county CDBG formula funds approved by the commissioners ($21,000).

Cade said replacing the old water tank was inevitable, citing possible state and federal citations that could have been handed down.

"We hired a company to do an inspection (of the tank) and they found 26 EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) violations," he said. "It’s obvious it has outlived its useful life."

The entire project actually began in 1995 when a new water plant was built in the village. In 1997, workers began installing new waterlines, a project that is ongoing, Cade said.

As for the third phase of the project, the village is currently awaiting EPA approval, which Cade expects to come "in the next week or two." He said the project will likely be advertised for bid the first part of next month and a contractor should be secured by the end of next month or the beginning of March. Construction is expected to start in late spring or early summer and the project should be completed by late summer or early fall, Cade said.

He added that the old tank will not be demolished until the new one is complete, so there will not be an interruption of water service to the village’s residents.