County seeks area water system

STEUBENVILLE - Jefferson County Water and Sewer Department is proposing to take over the Smithfield water system as a way to settle a long-running court case in which the village owes the county a couple hundred thousand dollars for billed water.

Attorneys and representatives of Smithfield and the county water and sewer department met Friday with Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. concerning the lawsuit.

Smithfield was ordered by Bruzzese in July 2005 to pay Jefferson County $267,354 for water purchased from the county but billed by Smithfield to its customers at a lower rate.

The village began to purchase bulk water from the county in September 1999 on an emergency basis when the village's water wells went dry. A permanent connection was made later that year.

The county and Smithfield agreed the amount of water sold from 1999 to Dec. 31, 2004, amounts to 184 million gallons. But attorneys for the Smithfield Board of Public Affairs and the county argued in April 2004 before Bruzzese on how much is owed. The village believes it should have paid $2 per 1,000 gallons of water and the county says the amount is $3 per 1,000 gallons.

There was no contract for the purchase of the water but the county has a 1989 resolution approved by the county commissioners setting the price at $3 per 1,000 gallons of water for bulk water customers.

Bruzzese said in his July 2005 order that the county consistently established a $3 per 1,000 gallon rate for bulk water customers.

The village has been giving a third-party receiver the money it collects monthly for water bills, but the village still owes the county $218,050. Bruzzese ordered the village to collect an extra $2 for each 1,000 gallons of water purchased by Smithfield to pay down the debt owed.

A hearing was scheduled for Friday on a motion filed by the county's attorney, Anthony Pecora of Sheffield Village, to force Smithfield to pay the amount and place the debt on the village's financial books.

Pecora said Smithfield on May 23 mailed an invoice to the county water and sewer department saying the amount had been paid in full, and that the county actually owes the village $70,114 for water that has passed through the Smithfield system to supply water to Piney Fork.

"Despite the court's order, Smithfield has made many attempts to avoid paying the judgment in question," Pecora said in a recent court filing. He added the village's "stubborn and obnoxious behavior" has resulted in the county being forced to file additional motions in court for payment.

Under the agreement reached Friday, county officials will make an official pitch to Smithfield Village Council and Board of Public Affairs at a council meeting in January for the county to take over the system. The village has until Feb. 2 to make a decision. If not, the county and Smithfield are scheduled to be back before Bruzzese on Feb. 3.

The county will absorb the debt owed if the village allows the county to take over the water system, according to village and county officials on Friday.

The county water and sewer department incurs expenses when there is a water break in Smithfield because the pumps at a pumping station in Rayland run the risk of burning up by working extra hard to supply water to that part of the county's system, officials said.

(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.com.)