(WKBN) – Thursday afternoon, Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown posed with officials of Canfield Township after an agreement was signed through the ABC Water District to provide water to parts of the township. It was hoped this was the first agreement of many more to come.

The agreement was signed by representatives of the ABC Water District from Boardman, Austintown and Canfield Townships. It allows the city of Youngstown to supply water to the township once lines are installed.

Canfield Township Administrator Keith Rogers had been working on the plan for five years.

“With the goals in mind, first, bring better quality, quantity and a consistent quantity of water to this area. It will aid in potential development and it will increase fire protection,” Rogers said.

The new water lines will begin at the corner of Turner and Gibson roads, where a fire hydrant marks the spot where the current lines end. They’ll head south on Turner toward Palmyra Road, as far as the $1.3 million that has been allocated for the project will go.

“Once we get the engineering part completed then I’m really hoping early spring,” Rogers said.

The contract with Youngstown to provide the water is for 40 years.

“This should be our second 40-year contract with our outlying areas. This is a regional impact for us and it’s also building partnerships that we didn’t have and now strengthing ones that we already have as well,” Brown said.

A map showed a large area in red, which is the northwest part of Canfield Township, all of which is serviced by well water. Rogers said to have it all serviced by water lines would be $30 million and take maybe 20 years, but he says that’s the goal.

“Secure the future of the township. Obviously, the potential for extra development. We have a lot of farms that could potentially become developments in the future,” Rogers said.

Brown says there is a provision in the agreement allowing for the city to increase water rates over the 40 years should the rate the city pays for water increase as well.