T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK St. Clairsville Law Director Elizabeth Glick gives legal advice Monday, since the proposed water and wastewater privatization contract with Aqua Ohio will have to be renegotiated.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – City Council heard the results of a study to determine the costs of keeping local control of its water and wastewater systems Monday, and Mayor Kathryn Thalman said changes to the city’s situation mean the proposed privatization contract would have to be renegotiated.

This could also mean a scheduled town hall teleconference set for Thursday might be canceled.

These issues and more were before council Monday during a teleconference punctuated by some blame, barbed exchanges and clashes of personality.

Since last year, council and residents have debated how best to meet Ohio Environmental Protection Agency mandates for the water system. Options include selling the water and wastewater systems to Aqua Ohio, a private, state-regulated entity, or making the upgrades locally.

Thalman, who was elected last year, ran on a platform of exploring options for local control. The former mayor, Terry Pugh, was in favor of privatization.

At the start of 2020, the city received its mandates from the OEPA. On Monday, Thalman reported final findings and orders from the agency were received last week. St. Clairsville had asked for five years to connect to an alternative water source. The OEPA has given the city two years.

“The water plant and the reservoir are to be abandoned and retired in two years,” Thalman said, adding these are orders from the OEPA.

She commended the city workers’ job of strengthening the water system and meeting many OEPA mandates.

Council also heard from Kimberly Bojko, one of the lawyers who negotiated the current contract with Aqua Ohio.

She said due to the changed circumstances and the work already done on the water system, the contract must be renegotiated.

City leaders could not say what this means for the deadline of May 4 that Aqua Ohio set for St. Clairsville to accept or reject the contract.

Thalman said she would speak further with the company, adding new information has been coming quickly.

“This has been breaking like, by the minute,” she said.

After the meeting, council President Jim Velas speculated it may be necessary to cancel Thursday’s town hall teleconference about water options, since Aqua Ohio representatives who would have been on the line were prepared only to answer questions about the contract as it is.

Another issue was the planned sewer upgrade project for Bellview Street and Overbaugh Avenue to prevent frequent flooding. The privatization contract included $500,000 toward that $1.6 million project. Thalman said while the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio had provided $800,000, the past administration had not signed the paperwork or submitted a schedule, and the current COVID-19 crisis has delayed the project for now.

Council heard from engineer Jeff Vaughn who studied the water and wastewater systems and the costs of maintaining local control. Members also heard from Wayne Cannon, rural development specialist with the Rural Community Assistance Program.

They proposed purchasing water from Belmont County, which is in the process of upgrading its water system and should be able to provide 100 percent of the city’s needs in five years. This would involve building a new booster station along the current connector line on U.S. 40, a water audit and upgrades to the distribution system.

They estimated a cost of $6.5 million for water upgrades during a 10-year period, and $3.5 million in wastewater upgrades, with $4.5 million borrowed for water upgrades and the wastewater upgrades completed mainly with city funds.

In terms of rate increases, at the end of 10 years the typical residential water bill for 2,000 gallons per month would be $43.33, and the average monthly wastewater bill would be $34.51.

Currently, the average bill for 2,000 gallons is $22.98 a month.

During a question and answer period, Councilman Frank Sabatino commented that these seemed like optimistic projections. He voiced concerns that costs would be higher.

“I hear a lot of ‘ifs,’ and to me in construction, that translates into changing work orders,” he said. “There seems to be a lot of variables … intangibles and ‘oh, by-the-ways.'”

Cannon said studies needed to fully identify issues such as the city’s water loss have not yet been completed.

“All you can do is budget for … studies and then put some rough estimates for the renovation costs and make the necessary corrections,” Cannon said.

Sabatino also commented there is no service director to advise council and criticized Thalman’s administration regarding the retirement of prior service director Jim Zucal.

Councilwoman Beth Oprisch said she would study Vaughn’s report.

“And frankly, I’m losing patience with Mr. Sabatino … this lack of professionalism needs to stop,” Oprisch said.

“She thinks that she’s the only one who can express her opinion, and anyone else she comes down on,” Sabatino said.

“Personality disputes right now are not going to accomplish anything,” Velas said.

After the second round of questions, Thalman noted Zucal retired of his own accord. Sabatino and Thalman had a further exchange, with Sabatino saying Pugh and Zucal had dealt with the deteriorating water situation as best they could. He took exception to what he perceived as casting blame on the prior administration.

“Things have been presented factually,” Thalman said.

Councilman Perry Basile said the past administration had ignored OEPA mandates for four years.

“That gentleman is out of line,” Sabatino said. Basile responded in kind.

According to Thalman’s secretary, Jody Williams, about 30 people who are not connected to the city called in and listened.

The next meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. May 4 and will likely be another teleconference.