ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A crucial sewer project for the Blaine Hill area was given the greenlight Wednesday by the Belmont County Commission.

Commissioners voted to award the bid for the Blaine Hill Force Main Replacement Project to the low bidder, Ohio-West Virginia Excavating Company based out of Shadyside. The winning bid came in the amount of $1,183,481 and was recommended by the project’s engineer Jeff Vaughn.

“We’re very happy to get this project going,” Commissioner Jerry Echemann said. “It’s a sewer project which isn’t very exciting but it’s much needed. The line that is to be enlarged and replaced begins at Blaine Hill and runs underneath Wheeling Creek, and they need more capacity in that line.”

Echemann added that the current line was put in when the Ohio Valley Mall was first constructed and due to the growth and expansion in the mall’s plaza, the area simply needs more capacity in the lines. The money for the project is coming from both state and federal grants with construction starting soon. Echemann said he is being told that the project should be completed in the spring of 2025.

“It’s a big project, and we’re real happy to get it started,” Echemann said.

Commissioner J.P. Dutton added that the federal funding for the project comes from former Congressman Bill Johnson, now the president at Youngstown State University.

“He’s obviously no longer in Congress, but he was one of the main funding sources for this project,” Dutton said.

Dutton added that the Blaine Hill Force Main Replacement is one of three sewer projects currently going on in Belmont County.

“Again sewer projects aren’t sexy to talk about but they’re critical,” Dutton said. “And we have three going on right now that both alleviate issues in the current system but in two of the cases also allow for future growth. This one that you mentioned and the other one going along Route 40 and some of the development that has happened out in the Morristown area”

Both Dutton and Echemann expressed their excitement for these projects moving forward to better help the evolution of Belmont County.

“It’s tough on the sewer side of Belmont County because there’s a lot less customers and it’s a lot more spread out,” Dutton said. “So it’s not as easy as running a sewer system in town, not that it’s easy to run a sewer system in town but it’s definitely a lot more challenging when you’re not in town and running all over the county sporadically.”

In other action, the commission transferred the funds for Delta Dental Chargebacks of $38,851 and Vision Chargebacks of $14,322 for August and September of 2024. Echemann then made a motion to make a transfer of funds for the Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Chargebacks in the amount of $5,456 for the months of July, August, and September 2024.

Echemann then moved to approve an amendment to the contract between the Belmont County Mental Recovery Board and the Belmont County Commissioners effective July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 to support the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services to inmates in the Belmont County Jail. The amendment to the contract is to change the terms of payment.

“And we do like to thank the Mental Health and Recovery Board for the services that they provide out at the jail,” Echemann said. “As the sheriff has often told us, many, if not the majority of the folks who end up in the Belmont County Jail do have mental health issues.”

The Commissioners then approved a motion to enter into a commercial lease agreement between the Commissioners, doing business as Senior Services of Belmont County and the Moran Family Center LLC located at 68583 Scott Street in Lansing. The center will be used as the Lansing Senior Center. The lease agreement is for the monthly amount of $900 effective October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025. It’s noted that Senior Services of Belmont County can terminate the lease with a 60 day written notice.

The commissioners ended the meeting by urging the community to attend the Belmont County Fair this week.

“Every year we go there, there’s someone from outside of Belmont County who’s either been there before or never been there before saying ‘I can’t believe how nice this fairground is,'” Dutton said. “And all of that has happened because of all the private support from the folks attending the fair and then even the businesses and everything else in terms of all of the buildings that are out there.”

He then mentioned that the fairgrounds is constantly adding new buildings to the property, citing the new structures that host the Ohio State University Extension and Belmont County Soil and Water Conservation District.