Trumbull County Commissioners are envisioning a long-term project that would aim to benefit Mosquito Lake and the surrounding area.

The Trumbull County Commissioners and the Planning Commission have applied for a $500,000 grant from Congressman David Joyce's office to bring in an architectural firm to see if they can extend water and sewer lines into the Mecca Township.

"Benefitting any community in Trumbull County benefits all of us," Beth Kotwish Carmichael, the Executive director of Trumbull County Tourism said. 

Nearly 400 homes in the area have relied on septic tanks and well water for years, leaving them with complications.

"There's a problem with iron content in the well water there and it leaves orange stains in your bathtub, in your showers,” Gary Newbrough the Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer said. "Septic systems there the majority of them were installed before the year 2000 before their were the septic upgrade requirements and they just don't produce enough treatment and they release fecal coliform into the environment."

If the county does the study it will look into where the lines could go and how much it will cost. It will also give them insight on if they can build a water treatment plant in Mecca Township.

"Right now, were paying the city of Warren I want to say about seven bucks a thousand gallons. We could put our own water [treatment plant], we could probably produce it for much less than that probably less than three dollars per thousand gallon," Newbrough said. 

Installing the lines would help bring development and businesses to the area including possible cabins around Mosquito Lake to rent out.

"We'll see," Kotwish Carmichael said. "I think we're just at the beginning stages to see what is going to develop once we do get our infrastructure in place.”

Hernandez explains that the grant now awaits a decision from Congressman Joyce. 

At this time, there is no structured timeline for how long the project could take or what the final overall cost could be.

Hernandez estimates that the project, if gone through with, could be millions of dollars - possibly into the double digits.

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