WINDSOR TOWNSHIP — The box to hold her water meter — whenever she gets one — is lying in Cheryl Hively’s front yard.

The water line that is supposed to service her house and eliminate her need for hauling water has been laid and is feeding a neighbor’s house. Hively is not as fortunate.

“I ran out of water the other day and then my sister-in-law ran out this morning,” she said. “We need water.”

But after living 18 years on Sand Road (County Road 37), Hively is still high and dry. Local government officials said they want her to know why.

The Lawrence County Commission Thursday authorized letters to be sent to Hively and approximately eight other low- to moderate-income families on County Road 37, explaining why they’re waiting for water service to their homes long after their wealthier neighbors got water service.

The letters will state that around six months ago, the Ohio Department of Development began to more strictly enforce the rules and regulations concerning federal Community Development Block Grant funds, which are used locally to pay water tap fees for low- to moderate-income households.

DOD officials now require an environmental assessment to be conducted on each and every parcel of land before the state will issue the federal water tap monies.

“People think the commission is holding it up, and that’s not the case,” Lawrence County Commissioner George Patterson said. “It’s the state holding it up. They changed the rules in mid-stream. It’s very frustrating for residents wondering why they’re waiting and wondering who’s at fault. They need water and they can’t get it.”

The Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization is overseeing the water line project. Dave Michael, CAO director of community development, said the so-called “bugs and bunnies” study is a lengthy process that, when finished, is 3-4 inches thick and includes impact statements from historic preservation, farmland preservation, fish and wildlife and several other state and local agencies and organizations.

The process of completing an environmental assessment study includes two public notices and a public comment period before the state will release the federal CDBG funds for each $1,050 water tap.

“We have on hand $26,000 in CDBG funds for water tap fees from 2004,” Michael said. “But we can’t spend it until we have environmental clearance.”

Michael said the environmental assessment process has been started but he has no idea when it will be finished.

Les Warner, chief of housing and community development for the DOD, said there have been no changes in the enforcement of such rules and regulations as far as he knows and such studies have always been required.

He said he would look into the specifics of this case. But he said the environmental assessments are “not that cumbersome.”

Meanwhile, Hively hauls water and waits for the day she can turn on a faucet without worrying if her supply will run out.

“It’s just a bunch of baloney,” she said. “It’s just not right.”