EDITOR’S NOTE: This is No. 6 of the Top 10 stories of the year as voted on by newsroom staff.
WARREN TOWNSHIP — The Leavittsburg Dam is one of nine dams along the Mahoning River that are scheduled to be demolished.
The Lowellville, Struthers and Warren’s Summit Street dams have already been removed, and the Leavittsburg Dam is scheduled for demolition in 2025. After many meetings about the dam hosted by the Trumbull County MetroParks board, which owns it, a decision was made last week when the board voted 4-1 to proceed with demolition of the dam.
Board member Kurt Sauer voted against the demolition, saying he wanted to postpone a decision until a meeting next month with the EPA and other public officials. His motion to postpone was not given a second.
For years there has been debate on whether the dam should be demolished. Many residents and the Warren Township trustees have fought to keep the dam, wanting the landmark to continue. However, residents of Braceville Township have wanted the dam removed, hoping it will help alleviate continuous flooding problems there.
The metroparks board has listened to concerns and comments from both sides of the issue and has been seeking additional information that would sway them to change their minds about the demolition.
The metroparks board received grant funding and other financial assistance for the more than $3.2 million demolition project.
Park board member John Brown said the board in 2021 originally planned to proceed with the demolition of the dam and began seeking funds.
“We have the funds available to take the dam down. If this project were to stop, the county would be liable for millions of dollars,’’ Brown said.
He said the board already spent $600,000 for the project.
Brown said low-head dams like the one in Leavittsburg have resulted in the deaths of 50 people a year from drowning, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Park Board Chairman Randy Fabrizio said the Ohio Department of Transportation, Army Corps of Engineers, Ohio EPA, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments all have scientific evidence supporting the dam’s removal.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has provided a permit to remove the dam.
Warren Township trustees and the county commissioners have had a separate study by DLZ, an Akron engineering firm, to provide alternatives to the dam demolition, such as rock ripple and a fish ladder.
Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy said after the vote last week that the park board is not acting in the best interest of the county.
“They’re making big decisions with no bank account, no insurance, nobody to back them up … we listen to our county engineer, our sanitary engineer, health commissioner, all saying don’t do this, and they decide to do it and it’s disappointing because they’re writing a check that we’re going to have to cash ultimately in the long run,” Malloy said.
He said there has only been one person who drowned in the area by the dam. Malloy said there have been people who died at Mosquito Lake, but the lake is not being removed.
He said he expects there to be legal action filed by residents who live there, by businesses that are involved with the river and dam, and people that use the waterways north of the dam.
Warren Township Trustee Kay Anderson said that it’s possible trustees may file a lawsuit to stop the demolition from proceeding.
Warren Township resident Debra Roth has asked the board to at least wait and get more information by meeting with the governor’s office, and Ohio EPA to get questions answered.
“We want you to have all the information before making a decision. Don’t act irresponsibly before we have all the cards on the table,” Roth said.
In the end, however, the board decided the dam must go.
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