EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool City Council held a special meeting Monday to vote on two ordinances pertaining to the planned improvements for the city’s raw water intake.

The council with an all-in-favor vote gave Safety Service Director David Dawson permission to apply for, accept and enter into any agreements relating to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Rural Public Infrastructure Grant (RPIG) Program.

If awarded, the grant will be utilized to fund the construction of the raw water intake improvements Phase 1, which includes improvements to the damaged existing raw water intake system for the existing water treatment plant, including but not limited to the removal of the existing raw water intake structure and replacement with two passive intake screens systems which will include the corresponding hydro burst system and airlines, raw water intake conduit and other associated incidentals.

According to the ordinance, the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) has accepted the pre-application and determined that the city is eligible for the program and to submit the grant application.

To be eligible to apply for the grant the council had to adopt an ordinance putting into place a residential anti-displacement and relocation assistance plan in the event that residents would have to be relocated to complete the project.

The plan is required to be in place prior to the funding for any projects that require any demolition and is required to be updated every five years.

It was determined that no residents would be displaced or need relocated to complete the project, but council adopted the ordinance since it was a requirement of the grant application.

Both ordinances were passed on first reading with emergency measures and are to go into effect immediately upon passage.