SR 213 water line relocation ‘benefited Jefferson County residents’, commissioners say

STEUBENVILLE — Hoping to put the controversy to rest once and for all, Jefferson County Commissioners voted Thursday to authorize the “appropriate” officials to process more than $243,000 in unpaid invoices for a water line relocation on State Route 213 done with no vote being taken, no bids and no signed contract. The “appropriate official” would be Auditor E. J. Conn, who for the past seven months has refused to pay any invoice associated with the State Route 213 waterline relocation without a court order directing him to release the funds. In Ohio, the standard statutory competitive bidding threshold is $79,568: Repairs in excess of the amount must be advertised for bids unless it were to be declared an emergency, and even then the price tag must be under $125,000 except in cases of physical disaster. There was no emergency declaration associated with the SR 213 project.

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