Canfield council approves road project

By kalea hall

khall@vindy.com

canfield

In a 4-0 vote, Canfield council approved an emergency ordinance Tuesday, allowing Foust Construction Co. of Youngstown to begin phase two of a North Broad Street safety upgrade.

Mayor William Kay and Councilmen Steve Rogers, Andrew Skrobola and John Morvay approved the ordinance. Council President Daniel Frazzini, who voted no on the ordinance at last week’s meeting, was not at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We owe it to the public to finish this project,” Rogers said.

The second phase of a three-phase project will begin within the next couple of weeks, city Manager Joe Warino said. This phase will add a turning lane on North Broad Street between Skyline and Dartmouth drives. There also will be a road extension, curbing, sidewalks and decorative lighting added. Warino said there will not be any detours involved. The total project cost is $805,281.49, of which 60 percent will be covered by a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission and the rest by the city.

Warino wants to make sure the second phase is complete before the winter weather arrives, which is why the ordinance needed to be approved at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I believe that this project benefits the city as a whole, and this project should move forward,” Morvay said. “We have had disputes about the way the contractor bid, but in the long run, it needs to go forward to benefit the city and its citizens.”

At last week’s meeting, Frazzini did not approve the ordinance, he said, because of issues he said the city has had in the past with Foust Construction.

Skrobola abstained last week from voting because he wanted to see a lump-sum bid.

“That is a minor point when it comes to considering if this project is needed or not, and it absolutely is needed, and I just trust in the fact that engineering people will be on top of the construction project and assure us that things will work out well,” Skrolbola said.

Phase three of the project will not begin until 2014. It will include road widening, added turning lanes and streetlights down state Route 46 to the city’s limits. Phase one was lowering of a vertical curve obstruction between the Village Green and Brookpark, and a right turning lane and left turning lane for southbound traffic approaching the green. The project included a dedicated right-turn lane on Brookpark and also a common turning lane at the intersection of Callahan, Brookpark, Neff, and Skyline off North Broad.