PAINESVILLE – Two pieces of legislation for an aborted project to extend sanitary sewer lines on North Ridge Road in Madison Township were canceled during a Thursday, March 5, meeting of the Lake County Board of Commissioners.
The county and township opted to end a cooperative agreement on the project because construction bids same in at double the engineer’s estimate of cost.
One of the resolutions returns $1.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds pledged for construction to the township, according to an email to the board from Sanitary Engineer Randall Rothlisberger.
The board also voted to rescind a measure authorizing the construction of sanitary sewer lines on North Ridge Road in Madison Township, according to an email to the board from Rothlisberger.
“Being an assessment project and also the timeline for spending the ARPA money complicated it to the point that this was the only solution,” Rothlisberger said.
Board President Morris Beverage III expressed disappointment the development could not proceed.
“I would’ve liked for us to be able to do that project,” he said. “I think it would’ve been great, but the money just wasn’t there right now.”
The plan aimed to install a new sanitary sewer line along a one-mile stretch of North Ridge Road (U.S. Route 20), from just west of Green Road to slightly west of Haines Road. The Madison Township trustees intended the sewer to attract new businesses and bolster the local economy.
The estimated cost was $4.7 million. Funding was to be a combination of $1.6 million in Madison Township ARPA funds and $1 million in Lake County ARPA funds, with the remaining costs to be covered by assessments paid by property owners in the project area.
Madison Township Administrator Paul Cook said during a Jan. 29 meeting that township and county officials decided the project could not proceed after bids came back at double the project’s original estimate.
An alternate plan to pare back work to only around 1,500 feet of gravity main sewer along North Ridge Road was also abandoned as not having significant economic development benefit to the township, according to Cook.
The Lake County Department of Utilities opened sealed bids for the project on Wednesday, Jan. 14. TRAX Construction Co. of Wickliffe bid $8.98 million, while Rudzik Excavating of Struthers bid $11.8 million, according to county bid documents.
In other business
The board approved payment of bills in the amount of $1,255,512.84 and purchase orders totaling $795,872.70.
In legislation
• Authorizing a change order to the contract with The Shelly Co. Inc. for the 2025 road resurfacing project, reducing the contract amount by $137,732.05.
• Certifying unpaid water and sewer sums, plus administrative charges, to the Auditor’s Office.
• Appointing Angela Schmidt to the Lake Metropolitan Housing Authority Board of Commissioners to serve an unexpired term ending Nov. 14, 2028.
• Acknowledging the selection of Madison Township Trustee Joseph White to the 911 Program Review Committee.
• Reappointing Robert Moore to the Lake County Library District Board of Trustees for a term running March 24, 2026 to March 23, 2033.
In administrative reports
Suzanne Casar, director of the Lake County Department of Job and Family Services said scammers are contacting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) beneficiaries, attempting to steal their benefits.
Recipients are receiving phone calls or text messages demanding they call immediately or risk losing their benefits. Casar said SNAP recipients should never share their card number or PIN, except with the EBT customer service line at 866-386-3071.
The next regular session meeting of the Lake County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, at 10 a.m. in the fourth-floor meeting room of the Lake County Administration Building, 105 Main St., Painesville.
