The Trumbull County Commissioners held a public hearing Thursday to help decide whether or not they should move forward with a multimillion dollar waterline project on Elm Road.

The project will cost $3.038 million and would include the construction of water distribution lines to provide water access to homes along Elm Road and Beaver Trail to the Cortland City limits and along Warren Meadville Road from Durst Colebrook Road to the Bazetta fire station.

According to the county's sanitary engineer Gary Newbrough, the project would involve 11,000 feet of benefitted frontage and would impact 61 homes that previously did not have water.

21 fire hydrants would also be installed.

The project will be paid for using three grants given to the county. This includes a $750,000 Ohio Public Works Commission grant the county received in 2018 and a $966,575 loan from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency water supply revolving loan account.

The county commissioners is also giving $1.3 million in American Rescue Grant funding to the project. 

"Because of grants and the hard work of our sanitary engineer's department and ARP funds, we have the ability now to assist these people in getting fresh water if they want it," said Commissioner Denny Malloy. 

Malloy tells 21 News that when they conducted the initial research for this project in 2012, the cost to put in the waterline was $200 per foot of pipeline. Now because of the funds, the cost is $50 per foot.

That being said, the connection costs of the project for the residents impacted would be $1,500. 

Costs for this project could be paid upfront or yearly with an APR rate of 3 percent. How much the resident would pay per year depends on the size of the frontage needed. This means for residents that need 100 feet of frontage, real estate taxes would increase $449 annually. For homes that require 200 feet of frontage the real estate taxes increase $795 annually and homes with 300 feet of frontage, taxes increase $1,141 annually.

The project began in 2012 when the county received a petition from residents that lived there asking to be included in the city's water plan. However, the issue now is that some of those residents have long since left the area, and many of the new residents are concerned about the costs of the project they will incur.

Right now, the project will only move forward if the it receives more than 50 percent approval from the homes involved. As it stands, 31.28 percent of those impacted oppose it.

If approved, the county plans to break ground on the project by April 2024 with an expected wrap date of October 2024, according to Newbrough.