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  County Engineer: ‘Writing to set the record straight on your false and misleading statements’  
  August 1, 2019 Edition  
     The following letter was sent to Judy Peyko,
      of 438 Jaronte Dr., by Mahoning County
      Engineer Patrick Ginnetti. Peyko has attended many meetings of township officials this year,
      deriding township and county efforts to
      mitigate surface water and sanitary sewer
      issues, especially following heavy downpours
      on May 28. Those downpours, for example,
      brought the Federal Emergency Management
      Agency (FEMA) to town that set-up a disaster
      recovery center at Boardman Township for
      the past month. According to Gerard Hammind, FEMA public information officer, as of
      July 26, 300 persons living in Boardman,
      Poland and Canfield received aid totaling $450,00 (or $1,500 per recipient) since the agency set-up camp in the Government Center, 8299 Market St. Mrs. Peyko
      Judy:
      I am writing to set the record straight on your false and misleading statements about Mahoning County, Boardman Township and myself. As I mentioned to you in previous meetings and in the attached email from last year, this constant attack of local governments needs to stop as you interpret a lack of a response from me as a validation of your inaccurate and less than factual statements.
      You have chosen to take what is certainly a serious issue caused by several unprecedented documented rain events in Mahoning County communities to unnecessary slandering and un- called for attacking of local elected officials, including myself, on social media with false statements simply because you are not receiving the answer you want.
      (Your email) is completely lacking in factual details and if you read the article you have attached, you would have the explanation of the plant upgrades.
      The Boardman Wastewater Plant is NOT over capacity and the Ohio EPA has ordered the Mahoning County Sanitary Engineering Department to stop introducing effluent into Honey Creek and to pump the waste to the Boardman Wastewater Treatment Plant. Therefore, the department has completed significant upgrades and improvements to permit additional flow.
      Your statement of the plant is operating in excess of the NPDES permitted capacity and contributing to backups is baseless and without any facts of supporting such an irresponsible statement.
      Additionally, wastewater from the New Middletown Plant is not being received by the Boardman Plant currently, another baseless statement lacking in factual support. Boardman will not start receiving flow for several more years and the decision to redirect the flow to Boardman was driven by the Ohio EPA and not Mahoning County not Boardman Township.
      Therefore, the entire email is false and misleading. The facts are the facts and your continued manipulation of those facts is not aiding in the solutions to the issues currently being experienced in Boardman.
      Next, you continue to state that the sanitary sewer system is antiquated and causing you to flood. What investigation have you independently conducted to make a statement the sanitary sewer is antiquated? What criteria did you use to arrive at this conclusion?...
      The Mahoning County Sanitary Sewer system is a closed system meaning clear water is not permitted. The fact that you may or may not back up during heavy rain events proves that clear water in entering the system. You are not backing up today I would presume?
      When Mahoning County officials and Boardman Township officials mentioned this to you, you went on the attack accusing us of “blaming you.” This is not blaming anyone, merely stating the facts, as the City of Columbus has recently done. Have you emailed them and accused them of blaming you?
      Also, mentioned in (a) story on WFMJ Station 21, the City of Columbus is charging residents on their water and sewer bills through fees. This is not a free service they are providing. It cost $80 million to work on 3000 homes in the Clintonville area (a suburb of Columbus) which is approximately $26,666.67 per home.
      You have stated many times in your emails that you are not willing to put any more of your money into your home, so how is a Blue Print Columbus type project going to work for you in Boardman?
      Lastly on this topic, Mahoning County has been and will continue to reline sewers as we have been doing for years (similar to Blue Print Columbus).
      The gate valve program has been in place for nearly 25 years as well. You also stated that your sanitary sewer lateral is clear and in good shape. What would lining your lateral accomplish if this in fact true?
      To date, you have not participated in the gate valve program yet you continue to blame Mahoning County and Boardman Township for causing you to flood. We have been doing and will continue to do our part to operate and maintain our sanitary sewer system. Residents can choose to work with Mahoning County and Boardman Township through the program currently available.
      Rather than blame government, you have a choice, lead by example in your neighborhood by disconnecting your downspouts and footer drains from the sanitary sewer helping to protect your investment with the additional benefit of promoting this to others you speak with regularly. Again, Columbus has stated the very same thing Mahoning County has been stating to residents through articles and the annual newsletter of the department.
      You continue to state that the sanitary sewer backups are causing your basement walls to crack. This is the first time I have ever heard of a sanitary sewer lateral causing structural damage of that nature to a house. I believe you are confused between the differences in storm water, wastewater, drinking water, ground water, rain water, etc. because you appear to be lumping them all into the same category in past emails. As an example, the article you sent on July 17 about the City of Chicago installing control valves is for storm sewer, not sanitary sewer. However, the device would work similarly to a gate valve on your home but you have not chosen to install one nor to disconnect your downspouts and footer drains.
      You mention in an email on July 15 that you spoke to people in the Service Water Division of the Ohio EPA. First, it is the Surface Water Division and the people you spoke to did not blame Boardman Township for sanitary sewer backups as this is a County Wastewater Plant that continues to meet and exceed the NPDES Permit requirements. If all of these issues you are trying to state as fact were true, the Ohio EPA would have been issuing Findings and Orders to the Mahoning County Sanitary Engineering Department mandating corrective action.
      In closing, the constant attacks and bombarding of emails is counterproductive and does not provide solutions.
      The facts being presented by Boardman Township, Mahoning County, FEMA, US Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Columbus have a common theme, consistency and facts. Altering, misstating the facts and coupled with attacking local officials is counterproductive as previously stated consuming valuable time of those you are demanding “fix the problem.”
      To continue to accuse public officials of not being invested in working towards solutions is irresponsible and lacking in a true understanding of the efforts going into working on solutions. Mahoning County continues to effectively operate the sanitary sewer systems with ongoing projects. The department is committed and the commitment of residents is needed to satisfactorily address the issue being confronted by the community.
      Mahoning County has shown you as well as many others what is being done (see attached email). Residents need to understand the efforts being done by the County and Township but need to consider the role they can play in moving the improvements forward on an individual basis.
      Respectively,
      Patrick T. Ginnetti, P.E., P.S.
      Mahoning County Engineer / Mahoning County Sanitary Engineer
     
      “The facts are the facts and your
      continued manipulation of those facts is not aiding in the solutions to the issues currently being experienced in Boardman...the constant attacks and bombarding of emails is counterproductive and does not provide solutions. The facts being presented by Boardman Township, Mahoning County, FEMA, US Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Columbus have a common theme, consistency and facts.”
     
 
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