CONNEAUTVILLE — A four-year long project to deliver municipal water to Conneaut Valley Junior-Senior High and Conneaut Valley Elementary schools should soon be complete with workers preparing to connect power to two high-pressure water pumps later this week.

Providing electrical service to the two pump houses is actually the last stage of the project which began July 14. The whole process to bring clean running water to the schools, however, started more than four years ago and has hit many roadblocks along the way. The primary reason for the delay in connecting to the Springboro Water Authority centered around the project’s original plans to install new piping that would cross 15 properties along Route 18. But property owners along the east side of the road, including the Burnham family who operated a farm in the affected area, didn’t want the waterlines located on their property. Installing the lines on the west side of the road wasn’t an option because there were high-pressure gas lines already buried there.

Property owners were unable to reach a resolution with the school district and water authority, and due to the additional costs associated with alternative construction plans, Conneaut School District and Springboro Water Authority successfully argued eminent domain in front of Crawford County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Gordon R. Miller. That decision, however, was overturned by Commonwealth Court by a 2-1 margin after the Burnham family proved that the land was part of a designated Agricultural Security Area and was, therefore, reserved under Pennsylvania law solely for agricultural use.

According to Superintendent Richard Rossi, to deliver municipal water to the schools, a firm hired by the district revamped the existing waterlines by running new lines through the old ones. Using the pumps, water will now be delivered to a holding tank where it will then be pushed up the hill to the schools.

Rossi expressed relief that the culmination of the project is finally in sight.

“Obviously the board of education and the administration are very pleased — as well as the community — that the high school has its own water now,” he said. “And from a legal and a fiscal standpoint, we are also all glad that the whole process is almost complete.”

The completion of the municipal water project at Conneaut Valley Junior-Senior High School will also bring an end to water quality issues that the district experienced during the 2007-08 school year which required weekly testing.

According to Elwood Schell, director of physical plant and maintenance at Conneaut School District, the last water quality test was performed in mid-June and all of the results “came back good.” In the unlikely event that a wrench is thrown into the municipal water project’s timeline and it’s not ready by students’ first day of school Aug. 27, “We’ve continued testing the water throughout the summer and there are no problems at this time,” he said. “If municipal water is not hooked up, we will definitely re-test again before school starts.”

When the water is flowing freely, Schell will breathe a sign of relief. But at least for right now, he’s reveling in the fact that it’s “almost over.”

Penni Schaefer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at pschaefer@meadvilletribune.com.

Providing electrical service to the two pump houses is actually the last stage of the project which began July 14. The whole process to bring clean running water to the schools, however, started more than four years ago and has hit many roadblocks along the way. The primary reason for the delay in connecting to the Springboro Water Authority centered around the project’s original plans to install new piping that would cross 15 properties along Route 18. But property owners along the east side of the road, including the Burnham family who operated a farm in the affected area, didn’t want the waterlines located on their property. Installing the lines on the west side of the road wasn’t an option because there were high-pressure gas lines already buried there.

Property owners were unable to reach a resolution with the school district and water authority, and due to the additional costs associated with alternative construction plans, Conneaut School District and Springboro Water Authority successfully argued eminent domain in front of Crawford County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Gordon R. Miller. That decision, however, was overturned by Commonwealth Court by a 2-1 margin after the Burnham family proved that the land was part of a designated Agricultural Security Area and was, therefore, reserved under Pennsylvania law solely for agricultural use.

According to Superintendent Richard Rossi, to deliver municipal water to the schools, a firm hired by the district revamped the existing waterlines by running new lines through the old ones. Using the pumps, water will now be delivered to a holding tank where it will then be pushed up the hill to the schools.

Rossi expressed relief that the culmination of the project is finally in sight.