Harpersfield infrastructure pairs well with wine

Jul. 19—HARPERSFIELD — Planned infrastructure improvements will have a large impact on wineries on South River Road.

Doug Starkey, director of the Ashtabula County Department of Environmental Services, said the first phase of a new waterline from Route 534 to Stoltz Road on South River Road is waiting for the contract to be signed before work can begin.

"That should be coming any day, back to us," he said.

The contract requires that phase to be completed by Oct. 19.

Starkey said the wineries and other businesses along South River Road are either using wells or haul water.

"After we had the request out there to look at a water line, really I was surprised at finding how bad the well system is out there," he said. "The wells just don't produce much water at all."

Gene Sigel, owner of South River Vineyard Inc., said he had asked a number of times over the years about extending water-line service down South River Road, and in 2020 or 2021, he reached out again.

"I thought it was a good time to ask, and apparently the county agreed, and so we're moving forward," he said. "I don't feel like I've ever been held back with what I'm currently doing with the water available here. But having said that, we really don't have much ability to expand our facilities and our footprint in the tourism and wine industry with the water we have from our wells.

"All of the area along South River Road, and much of the area in this part of the township has very low-flow water wells, that are only two to three gallons per minute, and the result is, there's just limited support for commercial activity, short of hauling water."

Sigel said there is a community of businesses on South River Road, including a number of wineries and distilleries and other businesses.

"The waterline is overdue, to a certain degree, for the amount of commercial activity right around the corner of Stoltz Road and South River Road, and quite apart from that ... there was a large parcel on the corner of Brandt and South River Road that sat vacant or undeveloped for decades, and changed hands in the last couple of years, and there's now quite a few new homes being built all along Brandt Road," he said.

The area is having very healthy growth, he said.

Sigel said the project is important to him.

Starkey said the second phase of the project will include a short distance on Adkins Road, to Virant Winery, and continue west to provide water to Debonne Vineyards.

"My hope is that we're going to bid this year, which we should," he said. "The plans currently are down at the Ohio EPA, to be reviewed for the permit to install."

The county received an ARC grant for $250,000 toward the cost of phase one, and a $2.4 million congressional appropriation, to be split between phase two of the South River Road waterline project and a planned new water tower on Route 534 in Harpersfield.

Sigel said he wrote a number of letters of support for grant requests.

"This did not just drop out of the sky," he said. "We've been planning this since fall of 2020, I started talking with Doug Starkey and [Ashtabula County Commissioner] Casey Kozlowski."

He said Kozlowski has gotten things done for the county.

Starkey said he hopes to have the second phase of the South River Road and the new water tower in progress this year.

"My hope is those projects are started before this year is out," he said.

Starkey said Sigel was one of the people who reached out initially, seeking to have the waterline installed.