The Daily Standard
Story Archive
CELINA - A major reconstruction of the entire length of Mill Street in Celina is expected to get underway in the next few days.
Also, city councilors will convene in a little over a week to talk about moving forward with an extensive water line replacement along State Route 703 that will involve the Mercer County government.
The Mill Street project will be executed under a $3.69 million contract by Shinn Brothers Inc., which is poised to overhaul 4,800 linear feet of roadway and replace an underlying water line.
"The main crews are coming in the first week of February, so residents will be getting door-knockers or hangers to let them know the schedules, just in case council gets any calls since it will be before our next meeting," city safety service director Tom Hitchcock said this week.
The project will stretch through most of the year.
"This is a very long road and a big project, so we're excited they're starting soon," Mayor Jeff Hazel said.
"And the contractor plans on using all of that time (through Nov. 1) with two different crews," Hitchcock pointed out.
Due to the scope of the project, it will be financed with $2.22 million from the street improvement fund, which contains revenue from the additional 0.5% income tax for fire, police and street capital expenses; $25,316.30 from the water line replacement fund; $160,058 from the water revenue fund; and $780,147 from the wastewater system operating fund.
Additionally, the city was awarded a $504,000 grant through the Ohio Public Works Commission's State Capital Improvement Program.
"That's water, sewer, sidewalks, curbs: It's the whole nine yards. It needs to be redone. That is really a rough street," Hazel told The Daily Standard about the extent of the project.
In 2026 or 2027, city officials also plan to undertake the full reconstruction of Sugar Street, which runs parallel to Mill Street through the same part of town.
"That's a massive project because that has the main water line from the water plant up to the tower, so that would have to be replaced," Hazel said.
The project would be similar to that of Mill Street.
"It's just a tad longer than Mill Street, so it's going to be a little over … 5,600 feet, so it's just right there at a mile," Hazel noted. "That one is estimated in that $6 million range, but again, that's not been fully designed yet. That's just an estimate."
Roughly 1,200 feet of water line along State Route 703 east of Celina will need to be replaced after a pump system failure at an unspecified manufacturer in late November reportedly caused substantial damage to decades-old cast iron pipe.
Councilors set a commitee meeting for 6 p.m. Feb. 10 to hash out details about a joint city/county project. It will be held in council chambers before the regular council meeting at 7 p.m.
"Obviously, you remember the multiple breaks on 703. Well, this is a cooperative effort between us and the county," Hazel explained. "The county owns quite a bit of that line. They own more of that line than we do on 703. Part of it's annexed, it's our responsibility. The county has a larger extent on the outside. We need to meet to discuss that and what that looks like going forward."
Hazel did not have a cost estimate but said county officials are attempting to secure funding from various sources.
The water line in question is 12 inches in diameter, which Hazel referred to as a major feeder line.
From Nov. 23 to 25, 2024, city crews were dispatched to patch up 17 water line breaks east of Celina. Hazel said there were 11 ruptures in the 12-inch line along 703, in addition to two breaks in a 4-inch line that feeds about eight residences on Home Avenue and four breaks in a 6-inch line that supplies about a dozen homes on Hill Crest Drive.
City workers had to excavate at each of the 17 sites before clamping in place stainless steel fittings to secure the water lines.
"They were out a lot of hours that weekend of the 23rd and then they came back," Hazel said. "We have to dig each one of those separately."
Some utility customers experienced a drop in water pressure during the ordeal but most did not lose water, he noted.
"We worked them live so we could allow the water to keep flowing. That way we're not issuing boil advisories," Hazel explained.
The cause of the water line breaks was traced back to a manufacturer that Hazel declined to name.
"There was a problem in the sprinkler system at a manufacturer, and it was malfunctioning, causing a drain to go and the solenoid recognized that and would turn the pump on and off, and the pump is what caused the water hammer."
A water hammer, Hazel said, happens when the water flow comes to a halt and has no where to go, so it "reverberates and goes back."
The manufacturer didn't realize what was happening and the pump continued to shut on and off, eventually resulting in water line breaks along State Route 703 and adjacent neighborhoods, according to Hazel.
"It was allowing water to leak because then the county had a problem," he said. "They didn't know where the water was coming from, but it kept turning on and off to fill up their water tower and every time it did that, it was causing a water hammer in the system."
In the meantime, city and county officials will closely monitor the situation.
"Right now the line is holding because we do have 17 clamps and patches on that line," Hazel said. "They're not without water."
