Salem Twp. crews repair roads, seek more funding

Officials closed a section of Teegarden Road because a bridge became unsafe.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Salem Township road crews have repaired roads and bridges damaged by flooding in late August and September to the tune of $68,000, but there is more work to be done.
County officials closed a section of Teegarden Road east of Depot Road on Friday afternoon because a bridge became unsafe.
"Using that $68,000 takes a lot out of a little operation like ours," Trustee John Wilms said. "We spent all that money and there's still a whole lot more we need to do to get the township back to the way it was before the floods."
Trustees made a plea Sept. 13 to U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, to help the township secure federal funding to restore roads and bridges damaged by severe flooding from thunderstorms and heavy rains since Aug. 27.
Disaster declarations
County Emergency Management Agency officials have since received state and federal disaster declarations for Columbiana County, but trustees have not heard how much of their expenses will be reimbursed.
Trustees are concerned about the extra money they had to spend as a result of the flooding, because that money is needed for snow removal and other winter maintenance of township roads.
After thunderstorms dumped as much as 7 inches of rain in some parts of Salem Township, trustees told Strickland they would need $10,000 just to fix a washed-out section of Cunningham Road so it was passable. Adding about 1,500 tons of backfill to restore that road to pre-flood conditions would take $20,000 more, they said.
There were 17 township roads damaged during the August flooding, with damage in more than one place on some of those roads. Trustees said many of the repairs made after the August storms were wiped out by later flooding, and there is nothing they can do to keep repaired roads from being damaged again.