Barnesville Village officials are considering adopting a modified version of a state agreement for the use and maintenance of roadways for horizontal drilling projects and infrastructure.
Stemming from a conversation with a representative of Oxford Oil at the December 19 village council meeting, Economic Development Director Bill Knox modified an agreement being used at the state and township levels and presented a draft of the agreement to council members at the Jan. 3 meeting. After review and discussion, council is expected to pass the agreement at the next council meeting. The six-page agreement also includes an appendix.
Knox said “minimal” changes were made to the agreement’s original form and that the model agreement was created at over several months with the input of oil and gas companies, as well as state and local government officials and will be implemented on a state-wide level soon.
Knox said information provided by Oxford indicates that they will be drilling in the Mt. Olivett area in February. He speculated that company trucks may need to travel through the village to drill in that area.
“I think it is a good a agreement,” Knox said, adding that Village Solicitor Marlin Harper had approved it from a legal standpoint.
Tom Michelli said a copy of the proposed agreement has been sent to Oxford Oil to sign and send back.
“This allows us to apply a policy uniformly,” Knox said. “The intent is to standardize our approach for the future. I think it is a reasonable agreement.”
“We should put this on the front burner, because this will come to us and we need to be prepared,” he said.
Warren Township Trustee Jimmy Grear said that officials had received a copy of the proposed agreement at their meeting earlier that night and would “follow the village’s lead”
He said Warren Township officials have already documented the condition of their roads.
Belmont County Port Authority Director Larry Merry said, “Uniformity in dealing with gas and oil companies is what I would ask of anybody,” “It is the key to this working. The roads will get torn up and you need to make sure that they are fixed.”
“He continued, “We need to welcome this as best we can and protect ourselves as well. There will be a lot of jobs coming out of this, and it will be a good thing,”
Merry said Belmont County engineers are using the same road agreement. He recommended that the village document the condition of the roads now by videotaping them.
“Drilling will go on for years,” Merry said. “Something will have to be done to keep a handle on this locally.”
He said from conversations that he had with commissioners from Pennsylvania, he concluded that generally, most of the companies are cooperative because they want to avoid negative publicity. Merry said road costs may seem like a big issue to local governments, but are “small potatoes in the scope of these companies.”
He said Michelli Street was a special case, because it was not a through road and did not have heavy traffic use. “Most of your streets are damaged from normal use and weather. You can’t hold those companies accountable for all the damage,” Merry said.
He said village officials could monitor the permits issued in the area by contacting the Ohio Department of Natural Resources or visiting their web site. Merry said the wells are usually drilled within a year of permit issuance. Merry said all the townships in Belmont County are notified when ODNR issues a drilling permit in their area.
Grear said Warren Township officials would work with village officials to share that information.
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