STEUBENVILLE — Work will begin today on a project expected to save Jefferson County Water and Sewer District a lot of time and money.

During their regular weekly meeting, held Wednesday due to scheduling conflicts, the county commissioners authorized their contractor, Cattrell Cos. Inc., to get started on SCADA and telemetry upgrades that will transmit data and information from remote sites to a computer at the service center. It also gives operators manual or automated control over pumps and motors so they can control the amount of water flowing and stored in water tanks.

Water and Sewer Service Director Mike Eroshevich said the upgrade will add a dozen water sites, pump stations and water tanks to the new SCADA system.

He said they’ll also be replacing about 8,000 residential and large water meters and make real-time data collection and meter reading possible.

Commissioner Tony Morelli said it’s a project they’ve talked about for years, pointing out they had a company do an assessment and “their guestimate was we have 40-percent to 50-percent water loss” due to leaks and inaccurate old meters.

“So basically, if you’re being billed for 1,000 gallons of water, we’re throwing 1,000 away,” he said.

Morelli said the upgrades will save the county time, labor and money, and give customers a new portal to log in to pay their bills or track their water usage in real time and troubleshoot problems. Customers also will pay for what they use and not subsidize those not paying their share due to inaccurate meters.

“We’re currently paying for about twice as much water as we’re using,” he said, adding the upgrades also will alert employees to problems sooner, he added.

Commissioners earmarked $911,638 from their ARPA fund allotment to cover Cattrell’s $911,638 contract.

Commissioners, meanwhile, approved a conveyance agreement described as a “simultaneous two-party real estate exchange agreement” that clears the way for the fencing project at the Jefferson County Airpark. The agreement allows the owner of a 3-acre parcel needed for the fencing project to transfer title to the Jefferson County Port Authority, which will do the same with a similarly sized parcel homeowner Jeffrey Clements wants.

“It’s basically a trade,” Morelli said. “It’s the same amount of property

Commissioners also decided to put the Gold Star Memorial Bridge naming project in the hands of their America-250 committee. The project aims to honor county natives who gave their lives in service to their country.

There are 56 bridges in Jefferson County deemed suitable to carry the name of a soldier killed in action, but organizers noted in World War II alone there were 272 home-grown casualties

“We also want to thank Industrial Waste Services and their vice president, Dave Cieply, for donating,” Morelli said. “They saw what we were doing as far as renaming bridges for veterans and they immediately sent us a check for $10,000. “

Commissioners also referred a petition to vacate a portion of township Road 280 in Ross Township to the engineer for a recommendation.