When the RG Steel plant in Mingo Junction idled in 2009, many jobs were lost -- but it also affected the pay check of the village. According to Mingo Junction administrator Frank Fuscardo, the plant's closing meant a 70 percent drop in the village's budget.

Now, Fuscardo said, village employees have to work to cut some corners in order to keep all of their employees on payroll.

"There ain't no noise over there, and from the meeting with Frontier, the only noise we're going to start hearing is demo," said Fuscardo, as he pointed to the idled RG Steel plant.

The property is now owned by a demolition company, and he said the empty buildings and smokestacks will soon be no longer.

"It was a lifeline. It was what we use to call the cash cow. It provided everything for us over here," Fuscardo said.

RG used to use more than 1 million gallons of water a day. Now, since it uses none, that's a big decrease in revenue for Mingo. He said that officials must figure out how to deal with the change, including how to make a $300,000 payment for the water plant, which is due in November.

"Can things be status quo? Absolutely not. Not. Because you stay status quo, you are falling behind, and you will not progress unless you change, and we need to change the way we think and the way we do things," Fuscardo said.

He said officials have discussedturning off some of the village's streetlights and also eliminating uniforms for city employees in an effort to save money. He said other options are being discussed, but the main goal is to keep afloat without cutting employees and without compromising service to Mingo's residents.

"Our duty is to provide the service that they've been accustomed to.They've paid the levies; they've paid everything. They voted in everything that they could vote. They never ever voted down a garbage levy, any type of operational levy in this town, so it's our duty to provide them with what they've paid for," Fuscardo said.

Fuscardo said he is "realistically optimistic" that the village will be able to make the water plant payment next month. He said meetings will continue to figure out how to make up for more lost revenue.