×

Hurry up and wait

Township waiting on engineering design for West Wheeling fix

T-L Photo/SHELLEY HANSON MOORES RUN residents, from left, John Bonnette Jr., Tom Hall, Vicki Johnson and her son Eric Johnson stand in front of the collapsed retaining wall along their road in West Wheeling, which is located just off Ohio 7 between Bridgeport and Bellaire. Pease Township says the project will be funded by FEMA.

WEST WHEELING — Some residents in the West Wheeling area of Pease Township are hoping to get a stinky situation resolved soon — and Pease Township Trustee Mike Bianconi wants it fixed, too.

Bianconi said during heavy storms and flooding last February, a retaining wall collapsed in a creek along Moores Run Road, striking a drain pipe used by residents’ septic systems.

Bianconi said this project, along with about 10 others, will be covered by Federal Emergency Management Agency funding sought by the township via the Belmont County Commission. Bianconi said an engineer, Aecom of Columbus, has been hired to design remedies for all the projects including in West Wheeling. The township had to choose from a list of pre-approved engineers provided to the county from FEMA.

Once the engineering designs are complete, the plans must be submitted to FEMA before they can be bid out and contractors hired.

Bianconi concedes the process has been a long one, but he hopes the Moores Run Road project, and the others, will begin this summer.

“I wish it was all done, but we can’t go that fast,” he said. “I tell people to pray for no rain and cold weather.”

Bianconi said though the waste goes go into the septic systems first, if residents are concerned about germs they probably should keep their children out of that area.

“I hope that it will be done this summer, but I can’t wave a magic wand,” he said.

Bianconi said one of the most damaged areas that needs to be worked on is a large slip on Rixson Road in Bridgeport.

He said it is not just his township that is going through the process, all the townships in the county still have damage that needs fixed from last year’s major storm.

Bianconi said the township did fix some smaller projects that occurred a year ago, but the large ones, such as the wall and drain pipe in West Wheeling, are on the engineer’s to-do list.

Moores Run Road resident John Bonnette Jr. said erosion also is occurring underneath the bridge that leads to his home. He says is it was caused by collapse of the wall. He said the township has pledged in the meantime to at least provide some additional support under the bridge to prevent it from falling into the creek.

“It’s just a matter of time,” Bonnette said, noting he lives in the house with his two children and wife. He noted until the wall issue is fixed he cannot get homeowners insurance.

His father-in-law, Tom Hall, who lives across the street is concerned about the large potholes on the road as well the erosion. Some people drive too fast on the narrow road, he said.

“I hope we can get something done here before someone gets killed,” Hall said.

Meanwhile, the trend of heavy wet weather continues this winter much like last year. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the region through Thursday. Freezing rain and snow was expected to fall this morning.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today