Planners ready with stimulus projects

By Ed Runyan

Working at normal government speed won’t be fast enough for stimulus projects, one official said.

WARREN — If and when President Barack Obama makes good on his pledge to jump start the U.S. economy by authorizing billions in public works projects, Trumbull County will be ready.

The Trumbull County Planning Commission recently received from its staff a list of 10 projects that meet the guidelines for stimulus funding: Engineering is complete, so construction could start within 90 days of Obama’s taking office Jan. 20.

Trish Nuskievicz, assistant planning director for Trumbull County, said the county has an unusually large number of projects that have been engineered — more than $22 million worth — so it is in a good position to get projects funded.

Among the top projects are four phases of the Little Squaw Creek Interceptor Project, which would provide sewers along state Route 193 in Liberty and Vienna townships.

The sewer line will begin at the Tibbetts-Wick Road intersection and travel north, providing more than five miles worth of sewer lines at a cost of around $8 million.

The other projects on the list are:

UMaplewood Park sanitary sewer project in Hubbard Township. It would provide five miles worth of sewer lines east of Jacobs Road between Youngstown and Hubbard and serve 201 households in an area the Ohio Environmental Protection area calls an “unsewered area of concern.” It would cost $2.7 million.

UWarren Industrial Incubator project in Warren. It will cost $9 million to provide a business incubator in vacant property owned by Delphi Packard on Dana Street. The county was turned down earlier this year for a $4 million state grant for the project.

UThe Braceville-Robinson Road waterline project. It would provide 13,572 feet of waterlines in Braceville Township to serve 68 households and cost $1.1 million.

UThe Gilbert Street sanitary sewer project. It would provide 1,350 feet of sewer lines to benefit 15 households in Weathersfield Township in an area the county health board has deemed an “unsewered area of concern.” It would cost $375,000.

UThe Bedford Road sanitary sewer project would involve 1,400 feet of sewer lines to benefit 14 households in Brookfield Township and would cost $237,000.

UMosquito Creek Boardwalk Phase II. The project would add 2,750 feet of boardwalk to the 750 feet of boardwalk already built just west of Howland Township Park. It would cost $650,000.

The planning staff is also listing an additional $98,975,700 worth of projects that are important to the county but are not engineered.

“We have to be ready in Trumbull County,” Nuskievicz said. “We’re throwing out there every project we can. We want to get them funded, get them built and get somebody to work,” she said. “They would do wonders for our county.”

The planning commission is staying in contact with the office of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, to learn eligibility information as soon as it becomes available, she said.

Ohio law requires that bidding on any project take 60 days, and it will take 30 more days to receive a request for qualifications from companies interested in bidding on the projects. Therefore, county officials will need to work as quickly as possible to get such projects in motion, Nuskievicz said.

“This process can and should be expedited by getting each office to assure these projects keep moving through as quickly as possible,” she said, listing the county commissioners, planning commission, sanitary engineers, county engineers, prosecutors office, auditor’s office and treasurer’s offices as examples.

“Signatures and ‘normal’ working processes should be streamlined and expedited,” she said.

runyan@vindy.com