CONNEAUT – The Old Main Bridge replacement and a couple of adjacent projects are moving forward.
Conneaut City Manager told council during a regular meeting on Monday, April 27, that the second phase of water asset improvements at the Old Main bridge was awarded to Utility Contracting out of Youngstown.
“The amount for this contract will be $529,175,” City Manager Nick Sanford said.“This is funded in part by Ohio Public Works Commission and Ohio EPA to replace outdated pumping components and electric controls at the booster pumping station, which dates back to, I believe, the late 1980s, early 1990s and completely unrelated to the bridge project. These are just outdated pumping components.”
The first phase is the water line, which council had intended to award but subsequently had to reject. That phase will be put back out for bid following a substantial change in contract conditions that involved the installation method of the water line beneath the Canadian National Railway.
Sanford noted that, after speaking with ODOT, the bridge replacement is on track to begin in August.
“They will be advertising the project in the next week,” Sanford said. “They will be managing that.”
Other topics Sanford discussed during his report included:
• The city manager’s office, under the direction of council, will be developing a position description for a contract employee for a communications-level coordinator to accommodate videography uploads and potential city social media communications.
• St. Mary’s Church is slated to be demolished.
“It was announced through the county Land Bank as part of an award of funds through the Ohio Department of Development, the former St. Mary’s Church, as a local landmark, is slated for demolition after three years of vacancy and roughly six years since all the masses were moved over to one church during the COVID pandemic,” Sanford said.
• Sanford’s office is conducting negotiations for the renewal of a contract regarding a pair of billboards.
“My office is negotiating with Erie-based Lamar Company for contract renewal of two billboards on the city-owned property along East Main Road at Thompson Road,” Sanford said. “These have been there since, I’ve learned, 1969. They’re on a five-year cycle that the contract is set to expire, and we’re finalizing details.”
• The demolition of the GE plant is moving closer to becoming a reality.
“We’re finalizing some details with the general counsel of General Electric as to demolition plans for the Conneaut facility, which has been closed since 2008, just to include language participating in the Ohio EPA Voluntary Action Program is not optional,” Sanford said.
• A five-year capital lease structure with Huntington Bank at a rate of 4.85 percent for $322,000 and IT capital upgrades were approved by council.
“It covers two Dodge Durango police cruisers completely outfitted for the police department and IT capital for our dispatch center and jail controls, which are outdated and obsolete,” Sanford said. “This is servers and computers and City Hall secure access control hardware. This is our key fob system, which is in excess of 20 years.”
• Council will consolidate two part-time administrative positions in the law department into one full-time paralegal.
Fringe benefits for the positions of fire chief and police chief specific to uniform allowances were also clarified.
“This is a little nuance in a fringe benefit ordinance for the respective offices that dates back to 1986,” Sanford said. “I wanted to make it all comprehensive to our full-time salary and benefit ordinance.”
• Public Works has hired two summer laborers with advertisements out for more help.
“This would assist with the mowing of parks and cemeteries, in addition to crack sealing,” Sanford said.
• Stone was ordered and placed and grading has been done on the city’s dirt roads.
• The city is working in collaboration with the Sons of the American Legion to facilitate mounting of their Hometown Heroes banners.
“They’re up to 75,” Sanford said. “They’ll be installed along the Broad Street corridor, and their goal is to get them from downtown up Broad Street and westward along Lake Road, toward Township Park.”
Sanford is in the process of facilitating that work through CEI, which owns the poles the banners will be installed upon.
“There’s a little bit of standard procedure with CEI, because they are CEI-owned poles, which we’ll be able to facilitate in no time at all, but we’ll be facilitating that in time to have them installed before Memorial Day,” Sanford said.
Several city departments, the American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion have worked well together.
“I really appreciate the collaboration between public works, our police department for traffic control, and, certainly, the American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion,” Sanford said.
• Sanford’s office is aware of damage to the playground equipment and playing surface at Liberty Street Park.
“I’ve passed along the contact information for the manufacturer to (Public Works Director Joe) DiBell, so we’ll be sure to see if we can get some repairs made in short order,” Sanford said.
• Center line and edge line striping, as well as crosswalk painting, is anticipated to be completed throughout the month of May.
• A water line replacement will take place between Lake Road and Pearl Street along Wrights Avenue will be completed ahead of the 2026 paving program.
“This is a small, two-inch line that can be installed by way of directionally drilling through GreatWave,” Sanford said. “They have the technology. We’ve done it before. It’s a great partnership, and the crews can install it in very short order.”
Homeowners will receive notices of the work.
A two-inch water line dating back to the 1920s on Whitney Street will be upgraded throughout May.
“We have Ohio EPA plan approval for upsizing to an eight-inch line that we can connect to Fairmont Street and have better fire protection in that area,” Sanford said. “Our crews are going to be installing that in-house.”
Those residents will receive notification, as well.
• It is anticipated that the Broad Street road replacement will be completed well ahead of Father’s Day weekend, allowing the Soap Box Derby to be hosted as planned.
“We’ll be working with the event organizers and the contractors and making sure everything is cleaned up and clear for them to set up well enough in advance before Father’s Day weekend,” Sanford said.
• The bid opening for the 2026 paving program is tentatively scheduled for May 14.
• Sanford will host a pre-construction meeting with contractors for the Buffalo, Park and Day street improvements.
“That will then segue directly into a public stakeholder meeting for the Park and Day street component with the business owners in the harbor district, just to make sure that everybody’s on the same page,” Sanford said.
• The new chief for the Conneaut Fire Department will be selected by a committee, not Sanford.
“We do have a five-member selection committee, which has been formed,” Sanford said. “It consists of (Ward 4 Councilman Tom) Kozesky, who is the chair of our public safety committee. I’ve asked (City Finance Director John) Williams, who has graciously agreed, Conneaut Area City Schools Superintendent Lori Riley, and two retired city firefighters, to take part in reviewing the résumés, sorting them and then facilitate in the conducting of interviews.”
There are a number of candidates for the position.
“Currently, we have 12 candidates, of which three are internal,” Sanford said. “I do want to state on the record, because I know it has been a popular topic of discussion, right, wrong or indifferent, good or bad, Assistant Fire Chief and Acting Chief Steven Sanford, who is my father, is not among the candidates.”
