(Publisher’s Note: This article is the second in a series on Mayor Kathryn Thalman, her perspective on today’s St. Clairsville, and on the future of “Paradise on the Hill”.
By Karen Fatula
St. Clairsville, Ohio – Office partner. City ambassador. A mayor’s best friend.
Meet “Sammy the Collie”, a co-worker and confidante – of the canine kind – to St. Clairsville’s Mayor Kathryn Thalman. It is rare, in fact, not to encounter Sammy when meeting with the sixth-year city official.
“He has come to work with me since he was two months old, and I take him to schools when I speak. The kids will rush him, and it never worries me that he is going to get scared. He’s like, ‘Bring it on, come pet me.’
“And he has met the governor, (and) he has met the Vice President, JD Vance when he was running for Senate,” Thalman said. “(Vance) was over at the courthouse and I took Sammy over and he was petting him all over and I was like, ‘I like this guy – not just because he’s smart, but because he likes Collies.”
If the mayor is out and about without her favorite sidekick?
“If I show up without him, first question, ‘Where’s Sammy?’ So that’s a cool thing.”
But back before Sammy’s very first birthday; back when Thalman was initially elected as St. Clairsville’s mayor, her constituents cared more about one of the city’s greatest debates.
Running on Running Water
When she launched her campaign, Thalman was a one-issue candidate.
Water.
As a St. Clairsville resident, Thalman became interested with the city’s discussion about the future of its water department and the possibility that council would approve selling it to the private sector.
Thalman disagreed with the potential sale so strongly that she based her first mayoral campaign on it, and now the municipality is expanding healthcare and recreation options. That development, however, would not have been possible unless city officials addressed infrastructure issues first.
Thalman pointed to the staff of the City of St. Clairsville as “visionaries” in imagining a better community for future generations and for laying the groundwork for progress that today’s residents can appreciate, especially regarding water and infrastructure.
“My wonderful staff that we have in the City Building, they work so hard getting grants and making things happen,” she said.
Thalman said St. Clairsville has been “successful” in tackling its water issues through a multiphase infrastructure replacement project and this foresight made the hospital project possible.
But there’s a back story to tell.
Beginning in 2018 before Thalman became mayor, the city was confronted with challenges of deteriorating water lines, an aging water plant, and mandates from the EPA concerning having an alternate water source apart from the city reservoir.
City officials from that previous administration considered selling St. Clairsville’s water and wastewater utilities to Aqua Ohio, a private, investor-owned water and wastewater utility.
Thalman, a political newcomer at the time, opposed selling St. Clairsville’s water and ran for mayor in 2019 on that platform and won, taking office in 2020. She was re-elected for a second four-year term in 2023. She recalled her first run for office and how the water infrastructure became so bad.
“Everybody pretty much in the United States … infrastructure, in-home water and sewage came into our country about 1918, 1920, so most places have aging infrastructure and a lot of administrations as it got to be in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, they kicked it down the can and said ‘Aww, it’s still alright,’ but it’s gotten so critically bad, it had to be addressed. So, we were in a situation where we were afraid we were going to have to sell our water supply period, and I was vehemently opposed to that because your water is your most precious asset, so I ran on that ticket,” Thalman said.
“Nobody knew who I was. I was a drug rep. I was the unknown political figure, but my passion was for us to keep our water. Well, oddly enough, I won and we have stayed true to that promise. We got a $5 million grant in 2021 or 2022 and immediately started replacing infrastructure,” Thalman recalled.
Step by Step
St. Clairsville received a $5 million Ohio BUILDS Water Infrastructure Grant in December 2021 to help replace its aging water distribution system through a multiphase plan.
Thalman said the terrible condition crews found the pipes in was shocking.
“Homemade cobbling jobs of fixing it for a hundred years. It was bad. Now we’ve got all brand new pipe running out clear to the end of town. That was phase one,” she explained.
Thalman said that without the overhaul of the city’s water infrastructure system, the Trinity Health System St. Clairsville Neighborhood Hospital would not have been built.
“We would not have been able to supply them with the water they needed, so thank God we got that done. We’re now gearing up to start phase two which will be the north and south,” the mayor detailed. “We did the east and west, north and south coming up and down Sugar Street.
“We’ll be starting that hopefully before winter falls. This year, hopefully. I’m not sure yet because it’s out to bid right now,” Thalman continued. “Phase three will be basically cleanup of the areas that come off of north, south and east, west.”
The city official said St. Clairsville is fortunate to have its own water source from the reservoir and officials are considering adding a second reservoir and building a new water plant. The city also purchases water from Belmont County at times, such as during the drought of 2025.
“We are in a wonderful situation. We have gotten it started, so I feel we are ahead of some of the other communities, and as far as water supply right now, we have our own water supply. We have a reservoir. We’ve even looked at putting in another reservoir and that’s not off the table. We are looking into putting our own water processing plant in,” she said. “We have one, but it, too, is a hundred years old.
“We fixed it. It’s a lot better than it was but a new one will be needed so we’re looking for some grant money, EPA, natural resources, anybody that might have a grant that would help us do that.”
Thalman noted that the local water source issue was at the forefront in residents’ minds following the East Palestine, Ohio, Norfolk Southern train derailment and hazardous chemical release incident in Feb. 2023.
“A lot of (the chemicals) went into a creek which then trickled into the Ohio River and all of a sudden every community up and down the river is having to close their intake valves because there was a massive spill of toxins going down the river and we probably had 150 phone calls, people saying. ‘Is our water safe? Is our water safe? ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Thank God we draw from the reservoir.
“If we need extra water, we can buy from Belmont County and their water does come out of the river.” She said. “It goes through an underground aquifer in the river but as last year we had a drought we had to buy some. Very unusual year. Right now, our reservoir is filled. We are in good shape and I’m happy to say we have our own water supply.”
Mayor Thalman again credited city staff for tackling the water and infrastructure issue.
“I have to give credit to Jeremy Greenwood who was our service director when I first started and to Scott Harvey (current Director of Public Service and Safety). They’re both visionaries and they’re not just like ‘Let’s fix and be reactive.
“Instead, it’s ‘Let’s be proactive and get this done for the next hundred years so nobody’s going to have to worry about it’,” she added. “So, these guys have been amazing.”
(Cover photo by Karen Fatula)
(“St. Clairsville’s Mayor – Part 3” will publish tomorrow evening here on LEDENews.com)
