The Athens County Commissioners met on Thursday to discuss issues regarding water lines connected to Nelsonville School District.
Commissioner Lenny Eliason said the system that feeds water into the schools has failed twice in the past two years.
“The failing infrastructure in Buchtel has caused water leaks and outages in Nelsonville York City Schools,” Micah Covert, president of the Nelsonville School Board said.
Athens County purchases water from the city of Nelsonville which is delivered via a line that is maintained by the county. The line also provides the schools with water.
Other board members voiced their complaints over the issue as well.
“School had to be adjourned because water leaks stink and we want to know why,” Dave Kline, one of the board members said. “School should have never been adjourned, never.”
After discussing for almost an hour, the commissioners and board decided to build a new water line.
“We’re going to make the whole system loop together so if one side breaks, on one side you shut a couple valves and school still stays in operation.” Kline said. “We’re just trying to get enough funds to run another line.”
The money will come from a community development block grant which the school and the city of Nelsonville will apply for, Eliason said. Athens commissioners also budget a certain amount of money each year to put towards projects in the community.
“We’ve committed to using some of that money towards this project,” Eliason added.
The meeting began with the commissioners hearing a proposal from Bob Gallagher of the Department of Jobs and Family Services.
Gallagher said the parking lot for the department is vulnerable to flooding, and requested the lot be elevated. He also proposed adding a ramp or a wheelchair lift to aid accessibility.
“The goal would be to elevate the (parking lot) out of the nuisance flooding level and to increase access to the building for people who have mobility issues,” Gallagher said.
