Local News
Edison gym repairs near completion as liability questions remain
By LINDA HARRISJuly 17, 2026
5 min read
Linda Harris
UPDATE — Edison Local Superintendent Bill Beattie said repairs to the school‘s gymnasium are “99 percent complete.”
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STEUBENVILLE — While repairs to the Edison Local gym are almost done, school officials are no closer to finding out which contractor is going to be deemed at fault for the massive water leak that caused the problem
Superintendent Bill Beattie told Jefferson County commissioners Thursday the district’s insurance company had fronted them the nearly $500,000 spent so far on the restoration, which is about 99% done. He said the claim is currently being subrogated so the insurer can recover its cash outlay from the responsible party, though who is going to be on the hook is still being worked out
Until it’s decided, Beattie suggested commissioners withhold at least $500,000 from what they owe Texas-based Johnson Controls, the company hired to oversee a water meter upgrade
Commissioners, though, said they couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything without consulting their attorney first
Commissioner Tony Morelli said legal wrangling over who should be held accountable “can go on for years.” He said he couldn’t support taking action without checking with their attorney first
“I just want to make sure that we don’t vote on something, then our insurance company comes back and says (it was a mistake),” Morelli said
Commissioner Eric Timmons agreed they needed to consult their attorney but pointed out that “this is not Edison’s fault, they did nothing wrong and they shouldn’t be penalized.”
“Someone needs to step up and take responsibility if it’s their fault and just deal with it,” Timmons said. “We can ask our attorneys what we can and can’t do but Edison, for sure, should not be accountable.”
Commissioner Jake Kleineke agreed, saying, “We definitely need to get some sort of opinion on this” before making any decisions
While Johnson Controls was the general contractor, a subcontractor, PMI, was brought in to do the actual meter replacements. PMI replaced the meter at the Edison fieldhouse in January, but after the new meter was installed and service restored, a backflow preventer valve started to leak. Neither PMI nor Johnson Controls are certified to work on backflows, so the school district called in a third firm that had worked for them in the past, Koorsen Fire & Safety, to fix it. Water service was restored, but hours after all the contractors left, the county’s water department was notified the “meter blew off” in the field house and spilled thousands of gallons of water onto the gymnasium floor.
In March, Johnson Controls’ M. Scott Summers had told commissioners Koorsen’s involvement complicated the liability discussion: Had it been PMI that called them in, there would have been no question of liability
A “subject matter” expert was brought in to figure out what went wrong and why, but that report hasn’t been made public
Beattie said he appreciated the commission’s support, adding that, “However you decide, this will get itself worked out one way or the other.”
“At the end of the day I know it will work out,” Beattie had said. “It’s (just a question) of how long it’s going to take.”
Commissioners, meanwhile, signed off on a cooperation agreement that paves the way for a local government coalition to independently advertise for bids for road salt rather than be hit with the 130% price hike they were facing if they stuck with the state procurement system
Engineer Eric Hilty said the agreement calls for the county to seek bids to purchase road salt in bulk on behalf of the city of Steubenville, the village of Mingo Junction, Cross Creek Township and a number of other townships
Hilty said he and Steubenville Street Superintendent Bob Baird had spent countless hours on the phone talking to state officials as well as salt suppliers
“We talk about collaboration,” Morelli said. “There’s more than collaboration there, you took the next step. You probably saved us a couple hundred thousand at least if it all goes through.”
Steubenville City Manager Mike Johnson, who attended the meeting to voice the community’s support for the bulk purchase, thanked Hilty and Baird “for all the effort they put into this.”
“For everybody to come together in a 10-day period, that’s pretty good,” he said
Hilty said they’re still trying to understand how one county can be quoted a price per ton in the mid-$60s and a neighboring county could be asked to pay more than twice that
“We need to know these answers so we can make better decisions and set ourselves up for success in the future,” he said, adding there are still 12 Ohio counties that didn’t get any bids
“We’ve never seen anything this erratic,” he said. “…It’s just something we need to figure out.”
In other business, commissioners:
– Agreed to put the 911 renewal levy on the Nov. 3 election ballot
– Accepted a petition to vacate a portion of Barbara Avenue from the intersection of State Route 43 to “the opposite or rear property lines of Lots 10 and 11” Rogers Terrace subdivision
– Approved payment of two invoices totaling roughly $623,500 owed Johnson Controls for materials stored, meter installation, administrative costs and construction management
– Paid Water Transport, Hopedale, $1,075 for a bulk water delivery, tank rental and delivery/pickup during a water issue July 11 in Irondale
