It’s become like that TV game show “Password” where one contestant offers a one-word clue to the other …
“St. Clairsville?“
“WATER!”
That’s because attention in St. Clairsville is currently fixated on the city’s water issues and rightfully so because it’s the most pressing need for both city government and the town’s citizens.
But once that pathway is finally decided via ordinance and the plan moves from conception to actualization, another potential problem—or opportunity, depending on your perspective—shall move to the forefront.
The will center on what to do with the city’s reservoir which, according to findings and orders issued by the EPA, must be abandoned as the primary source of the city’s drinking water within two years. The same fate likely awaits the backup reservoir off Route 9 North in Provident.
The main reservoir, though, has potential for recreational purposes, far more than currently utilized at the facility. Residents and city leaders know this and are beginning preliminary movement to make sure that comes to fruition.
Citizenry Involved
Bill Brooks, long-time resident and mayoral election runner-up, is involving himself in the beginnings of campaign to champion the reservoir going forward.
Brooks and fellow long-time resident Diana Tarleton, who lives directly across from the reservoir, met Monday at the lone remaining picnic bench at the reservoir’s shelter to talk potential options and what needs to be done.
“Regardless of which way council goes (with the water department decision), we need another recreational venue,” Brooks said. “We have all of this land and I would like to see it continue to be used. It’s about the kids. They can make memories here that they’ll have the rest of their lives.”
Brooks noted some of the amenities he’d like to see are a handicap-accessible fishing platform or pier, more picnic tables, more grills, more shelters. Perhaps even cordoned off for use as a dog park. He also touted the potential for camping at the facility.
“A lot of people cut their teeth in fishing here. There’s probably a lot of people that got their first kiss out here as well,” Brooks said with a laugh in noting the ample and relaxing scenery surrounding the water. “If you level off that area and remove some of the trees, you could have a small dog park. If funding was available, you could even have a small bridge of some type to provide access to the other side.”
While the reservoir is not open to any type of swimming or boating, it’s long been a spot for public fishing access. Annually, the city’s recreation department hosts a junior angler fishing tournament during the summer. Signups are still being accepted on the rec department’s website, so there may be one sporting event that is spared the COVID-19 cancelation axe this summer.
Tarleton has seen a number of tournaments, but what she hasn’t seen recently is a restocking of the reservoir.
“It hasn’t been stocked for a lot of years now,” Tarleton said. “I used to watch them come in and fill it up, but it’s been a lot of years since it’s happened.”
Getting Organized
Brooks and Tarleton hope to get a community group together of like-minded citizens willing to put in the work, raise some funds, and make sure the reservoir can be a proper recreational destination.
“If we get people together, we can get fundraisers going,” Brooks said. “Only thing we’d want from the city is for it to keep the grass cut and make trash runs. We could find a way to keep it monitored. We are going to try to get a committee together and have our first initial meeting when it warms up a little bit and discuss our options. While we do need council’s permission to do anything down here, but don’t need it to form a group and meet.”
Brooks said he would like a representative from council on the group, mentioning councilwoman Linda Jordan, who is presently the council rep on the recreation board, so her inclusion would only be natural given her present position.
One issue Tarleton feels could be corrected even now is that of restroom facilities, in that, there aren’t any. Families coming to have a picnic or spend the day on the bank fishing have to either venture to a public restroom facility when nature calls; either that or wade their way through the brush.
“I’ve asked before about having porta johns put out here,” Tarleton said. “It’s ridiculous has you have families with little kids out here fishing all day, and when they have to go to the bathroom, they have to go between the pines.”
City Also Eying Reservoir Options
As the reservoir still is primarily part of the water department and thus falling under the auspices of the buildings and grounds committee, Jordan deferred to fellow councilmember Perry Basile on the issue for now.
One question that was raised was if the sale to Aqua Ohio is still deemed the city’s best option and it goes through, what happens with the reservoir then. Basile, while not 100 percent certain, believed in the original contract, once the reservoir was no longer in use for water production, its ownership reverted back to the city. Since a new contract still needs drafted, that could still be up in the air.
But provided the city retains ownership, Basile noted that council too has been in discussion about expanding recreational opportunities at the reservoir.
“We’ve been talking about it for a year already, within council and both the past and present administration. It’s a subject we are looking at,” Basile noted. “There are different options. We’d love to make it into a park area. We al want to do that. But first we have to make sure we are EPA compliant and what our boundaries are.”
LEDENews reached out to the Ohio EPA and received this response when asking about how the EPA viewed recreational usage of the reservoir once it’s no longer part of the surface water system.
“Recreational usage of reservoirs generally does not fall under Ohio EPA jurisdiction,” replied Anthony Chenault, the media coordinator for the Ohio EPA’s Southeast, Northeast and Central districts.
Chenault thought it may fall under Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources’ jurisdiction at that point. Calls to the ODNR were not returned by deadline. He did go on to add that “the Ohio EPA does not mandate the drainage of a reservoir after it is no longer used as a surface water source for drinking water.”
Making St. Clairsville More Attractive
Basile noted that the city’s first and main focus at present is the water situation. Even once that’s decided, the city still has two years to put the changeover process into play to hook up its water system for bulk purchase off either Belmont County or Martins Ferry. While that’s in play, surface water is the reservoir’s primary purpose of operating. Until that’s no longer the case, any upgrades to the reservoir facility must be done on or near the banks and not with water usage itself.
Brooks and Tarleton both felt that any form of reaction involving being in or on the water, whether in the form of swimming, kayaking or non-motorized boating wasn’t advisable. They felt fish was the best use of the water itself and noted the dangers of swimming.
Basile wasn’t quite as cautionary,
When asked about the possibilities of other water recreation, he answered why not.
“Those are all things we can explore,” Basile said. “We have good water in the reservoir. It’s clean water, but we have to see what the EPA tells us our limitations are. We have to be compliant to them and line ourselves up and make our plans accordingly.”
Both Basile and the citizen’s group expressed belief that expanding the city’s recreational offerings not only provides more amenities to residents but also may help in attracting new residents to town.
Given St. Clairsville city’s status is also in flux, depending on the 2020 census, any measure making the city more attractive to potential citizens is viewed in a positive light.
“The sky is the limit,” Basile said. “The question is how aggressive do the residents want to be, how aggressive does the administration want to be. I’m the type of personality where I say let’s get it done and do some nice things for our town. We have the resources in people. We have tractors, we can move dirt, we can build stuff, let’s figure it out and do it.”
