CCPA Approves Road Work Near Intermodal Park
EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio – The Columbiana County Port Authority has engaged Dallis Dawson & Associates to oversee improvements to a 2,200-foot section of Clark Avenue within Wellsville once the grants to fund the project are released.
Work should begin and be concluded this spring, the CEO of the port authority, Tracy Drake, informed his board Monday.
At its regular monthly meeting -- it lasted eight minutes -- the board approved spending the $902,000 in funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation, the state Department of Administrative Services, Governor’s Office for Appalachia and the federal Appalachian Regional Commission to improve the section of state Route 7 and build a bicycle path close to the Ohio River at the Wellsville Intermodal Facility.
The Dawson firm has done other work that improved the roads leading to and from the industrial park, Drake said, and was deemed most qualified when the authority put out RFQ’s – requests for qualifications.
The improved Clark Avenue from River Drive to the lower port entrance, all within Wellsville, will provide trucks better access to the Harvest Terminal and Dock and for construction of the Harvest Pipeline to the terminal.
The consulting engineer’s fees on such projects usually run 10% of the cost of a project – in this case, in the neighborhood of $90,000 – and Drake expects that to hold here.
The board approved a 2% raise, or $4,000, to the staff of six that the port authority employs. Chairman Charley Presley called it a cost-of-living adjustment that allows the staff to keep pace with last year’s rate of inflation. Among the affected are three secretaries and two operations men.
And the board amended the port authority policy manual so it complies with state law regarding employee and employer contributions to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. The authority will deduct 10% of each employee’s gross wages for the retirement system as it contributes 14% to the fund.
Drake announced that Aqua Infrastructure LLC, a subsidiary of Aqua America, expects to conduct due diligence of the Youngstown & Southern Railroad this week and next. Aqua Infrastructure agreed Feb. 6 to buy the assets of the 36-mile short line that runs from Youngstown to Darlington, Pa., and put down $50,000 of the $3 million price.
Completion of the purchase, set for no later than June 30, is contingent on Aqua Infrastructure conducting due diligence and the sales agreement allows Aqua to reclaim the earnest money should it find a defect in the title or the Surface Transportation Board refuse to approve the purchase.