A long-awaited Cleveland water line connecting two dead end lines in downtown Bainbridge Township may become a reality as early as summer, Geauga County Water Resources Director Steve Oluic told township trustees Dec. 10.
A long-awaited Cleveland water line connecting two dead end lines in downtown Bainbridge Township may become a reality as early as summer, Geauga County Water Resources Director Steve Oluic told township trustees Dec. 10.
During a special trustees meeting, Oluic and two representatives from GPD Consultants gave a PowerPoint presentation describing Geauga County Project 1801, a $1.2 million loop pipe line connecting Kenston Lakes to Canyon Lakes, which will allow the township campus to tie into city water.
For more than a decade, water problems have plagued that portion of the township. Methane seeping into the wells at the police station, township hall and fire station has forced the township to bring in potable water during the past several years.
In 2007, methane from a nearby gas well seeped into several water wells in the nearby Kenston Lakes development, causing one house to explode off its foundation and dozens of residents forced to evacuate during the Christmas holidays. For years, residents used trucked-in water in their homes, until a water line could be brought to them with Cleveland city water.
With Project 1801, Oluic described the Kenston Lakes line extending east along Bainbridge Road to state Route 306, then north, crossing under U.S. Route 422 to Chagrin Road, then west to an existing line at Northview Drive.
“Our priority is to (connect) those two legs, which will improve the water flow and bring water to the township complex,” Oluic told trustees.
The project will be paid for by a revolving loan from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, with construction beginning in late spring and completed by summer, said Oluic. He added details for repaying the loan and the cost of tap-ins are yet to be determined.
The 12-inch line will be constructed in current road rights-of-way, which will run on the east side of Route 306. The main difficulty in the construction process will be boring under Route 422.
“The biggest challenge we’re gonna have is when we bore under Route 422 because there are soil issues there,” he told trustees. “That may complicate the completion, but my goal is to be done with construction by the end of June.”
Oluic said his department will send out letters within the next two months to property owners along the projected line and he will be available to meet with Bainbridge residents in a town meeting to discuss the project.
Trustees discussed further water line expansion in the future and its role in economic development. Other areas, such as Bainbrook and Tanglewood, have been dealing with water issues for several years. Oluic said expansion would need negotiating contracts with the Cleveland water system, which could be sometime in the future.
Trustees said the new loop has been discussed for more than a decade.
“This conversation goes way back to the days of (former Water Resources Director) Doug Bowen,” Trustee Lorrie Sass Benza said.
