Movement Expected Soon on Plain Township Water Agreement

In March, North Canton City Council members and city administrators gathered to to Plain Township.

Then, city officials were optimistic a water agreement could benefit the city and provide lower rates for North Canton residents. They had met with Plain Township trustees and decided to regroup and discuss in the coming weeks.

So, where does that all stand now?

Council President Jon Snyder said Wednesday that city and township officials didn't regroup, but they have discussed the agreement among themselves with no formal action on either side.

"We hope in the next couple weeks to get together with the people at Plain and work out some kind of collaborative agreement with the water lines," Snyder said.

Snyder said the agreement would benefit the city as a whole and savings would trickle down to residents.

"Ultimately, there are two objectives in this whole process," Snyder said. "One is to continue to save money for the residents of the city because we keep their rates artificially low by charging more money for outside users. What the rate will be we're not sure of because we don't know how much water they want to use."

Those at the meeting also discussed the concerns they've heard from Plain Township residents who are growing fearful of fracking — a technique used to extract oil and gas from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals — and the possibility of chemicals contaminating their water.

Snyder said the city has the ability to service those Plain Township residents who would want city water, as the city uses not even half of what it's capable of processing each day. The treatment plant can process 12 million gallons of water a day; usually it handles no more than 5 million gallons a day.

"We have sufficient water," Snyder said. "We're able to process and sell and still maintain the quality of service our residents expect, so we're in good shape."

Check back with North Canton Patch for more updates about the Plain Township water agreement. 

Follow North Canton Patch on Facebook and Twitter and sign up for our daily newsletter.