Deteriorated condition of local roads prompts call for summit, letters
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
Jackson Township trustees have proposed an emergency summit on the poor condition of local roads. Throughout the Valley, the fears and experiences are the same: The harsh winter has left many roads a wreck. Now, governments must find ways to fill holes, resurface roads and even begin to plot the costs of next winter.
“We’ve gone from kind of a pain-in-the-neck status of dodging a pothole to an emergency status, and I think that calls for some drastic measures,” Jackson Trustee Tom Frost told the Mahoning County commissioners, who endorsed the summit proposal, offering the township hall as the meeting place.
“We’ve gone from anger to fear,” said Frost, who even suggested bringing in the Ohio National Guard.
Here’s what people on the front lines of the war on potholes are saying:
THE STATE RESPONDS
County Commissioner David Ditzler said the Mahoning County Engineer’s Office has had to prioritize road repairs, with a focus on the most heavily traveled roads.
With the engineer’s fuel-tax revenues curtailed by increasing vehicle fuel efficiency, and with asphalt prices having escalated, Ditzler called for state sales tax and state rainy-day fund money to be applied to local road repair.
While Liberty Trustee Jodi Stoyak joined the chorus suggesting the state use money from Ohio’s rainy-day fund to restore local government funding, some elected officials are not interested.
“The rainy-day fund isn’t the answer,” said Rob Nichols, a spokesman for Gov. John Kasich, adding that the spending “mentality” is what led Ohio into an $8 billion budget shortfall.
Sen. Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, said she will draft an amendment on an upcoming state operating budget that would create a new funding program for road maintenance.
“It would be a step in the right direction,” said the ranking Democrat on the Transportation, Commerce and Labor Committee.
Many local officials, however, say more than “steps” are needed — and soon.
A COUNTY’S BURDEN
Jackson Township residents fear that deteriorated road conditions jeopardize timely emergency response by police, fire and ambulance services.
“We’re a major thoroughfare to the General Motors plant” in Lordstown. Many of the GM workers use Bailey Road, a county road in Jackson Township, to get to the plant, Frost noted.
“These roads every year get a little worse,” said his colleague, Trustee Olin Harkleroad. The post-winter pothole-repair challenge has outgrown the ability of the county engineer’s office to handle it, he added.
County Engineer Patrick Ginnetti said his department, which covers 485 miles of county roads, has used 800 tons of cold patch, 786 tons of hot cold mix and 64 tons of hot asphalt so far this year to make repairs.
Tri-County Asphalt Materials Inc., 405 Andrews Ave., Youngstown, began supplying hot asphalt to his crews March 30, Ginnetti said.
It was the first of five hot-asphalt suppliers under contract with the engineer’s office to begin providing that material this year, he said.
For the second-consecutive year, the engineer’s office is using free labor from day-reporting inmates to fill potholes under sheriff’s deputy supervision.
WHERE’S THE MONEY?
In Trumbull County, the engineer’s office reimburses Howland and Lordstown for their labor costs in patching potholes on county roads.
Liberty Trustee Stoyak has requested financial assistance for road maintenance in a letter sent to several Ohio elected officials including Kasich.
“Our township roads are crumbling to the point where several are practically impassable,” Stoyak said in her letter.
The township maintains 60 miles of residential and through streets that are funded through the motor vehicle license tax, gasoline tax and the road and bridge fund. Those revenues cover labor, paving materials and equipment.
The township used to receive estate-tax funding and general funds to offset any costs, said Steve Shelton, the township’s fiscal officer, adding that general funds are used mainly for operation expenses. On average, the township would collect $241,000 annually in estate taxes through 2012, which Kasich abolished in 2011.
The general fund declined from $1.28 million in 2010 to $660,151 in 2014.
After two failed attempts, Liberty voters approved a road levy last year, which generates $266,000 annually for five years. But levy funds would not be available until 2015; therefore, the township borrowed $450,000 and received nearly $321,000 in grant money combined from last year and 2015.
Those funds were used to pave Ravine Road, Hadley Road, Rooselvet Drive and Northview Boulevard last year. Three other roads will be paved this spring: Tibbets-Wick Road, Ohio Trail, Mansell Drive and Naylor-Lloyd Road.
POLAND VILLAGE
In Poland Village, road repairs are constrained by manpower and money, said Russell Beatty Jr., police chief and streets commissioner.
“We’re doing what we can, as quick as we can. I only have two full-time guys and one part-time guy,” he said.
The village maintains 15 miles of road. Road department funds primarily come from license plate tax revenue; the village does not have a road levy.
Village council members recently have discussed the possibility of putting one on the ballot.
“We don’t have the funding to be doing a lot of paving,” council member Linda Srnec said earlier. “How long can you just keep plugging holes in your roads and not repair them?”
Village council approved a $1 million budget for 2015 that includes $22,500 for street repairs. A separate line item totaling $7,525 covers personnel costs for the street commissioner, and a street construction maintenance and repair fund totaling $142,930 covers employee personnel costs and $23,300 for contracted services and other supplies and materials.
Beatty said he does not yet know whether the village will pave any roads this year, and if it does, what roads they would be.
“We had to spend additional [funds] on salt at an inflated rate because February was so bad, so it definitely cut into our ability to do [repair] work,” he said.
Right now his department is focused on hot patching.
He identified Riverside and Island drives and Sheridan Road as some of the worst, but added, “It’s all over the place. They all need attention.”
POLAND TOWNSHIP
Poland Township officials say that, so far, winter expenses have not impacted repair work, but it could impact paving.
The township, which maintains 55 miles of road, plans to patch every road for which it gets calls, township Administrator James Scharville said.
Trustees expect to approve a list of several roads Wednesday. Scharville identified Quarry and Arrel roads as two that need to be repaved, and said trustees likely will pursue Ohio Public Works Commission grant funds to pave them.
Officials do not yet have an estimate for how much they will spend on road repairs this year, but township Fiscal Officer Paul Canter said the township typically spends about $70,000 on repaving and about $40,000 on patching each year.
BOARDMAN TOWNSHIP
Boardman Township officials plan to pave 15 roads this year, depending on bids they receive this summer. The plan is to resurface Windel Way; Mayport; Griswold; Royal Palm; Oak Knoll from Overhill to Alburn; Bristlewood from U.S. Route 224 to Trailwood; Crestview from West Boulevard to Northlawn; Buchanan from Presidential to the cul-de-sac and Forest Lake drives; Simon Road; Boardman Boulevard; Wendy and Annawan (from Rush to Euclid) lanes; Lemoyne Avenue and Salinas Trail.
Many of the township’s most heavily traveled roads are maintained by the county. The county tentatively plans to resurface Indianola Road from state Route 7 to South Avenue; Mathews Road from Southern Boulevard to state Route 170; and Southern Boulevard from 224 to Ferncliff.
The township’s resurfacing program will be covered partially by OPWC funds; the township’s match is $234,134 of the estimated $383,826 cost. Officials say the program could change, depending on prices.
“We have more work that needs done than there is money, and we know it,” Trustee Tom Costello said.
Out of the township’s $18.3 million 2015 budget, road department appropriations total about $2.5 million.
In previous years, Boardman along with Canfield and Austintown have done joint paving programs to bring down costs, and might do so again this year.
CANFIELD, AUSTINTOWN
In both Canfield city and Austintown Township, the decision on what roads to be paved will be made this month.
“We just have to change the way we’ve done business in the past,” said Joe Warino, Canfield city manager, discussing paving and rock-salt purchasing.
“A couple of our newer roads that we just paved will need some attention,” he said, noting Hilltop Boulevard, which was paved last year.
Warino said he has fielded resident complaints about Shields, Turner and Western Reserve roads, all county roads.
The city has yet to announce what roads will be paved this year, but Warino said Blueberry Hill Drive and Glenview Road will be included.
Austintown won’t be paving 1.7 miles of township roadway due to higher salt costs this year versus last year. Mike Dockry. township administrator and road superintendent, said at this time a year ago, Austintown had spent about $24,000 — compared with this year with more than $180,000 spent on rock salt, overtime labor and cold patching.
“That’s a hell of a leap,” Dockry said.
Austintown hasn’t decided which roads will be paved this year, but Dockry said those could be approved later this month.
YOUNGSTOWN
Since March 30, Youngs-town Street Department workers have been using hot asphalt to fix potholes — which, as expected, is working a lot better on the roads, said Sean T. McKinney, the city’s buildings and grounds commissioner.
The focus has been on primary streets, he said, including Market Street, South Avenue, Mahoning Avenue, Gypsy Lane, Albert Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. But the secondary roads also are being patched, McKinney said.
To date, the city’s street department has used about $185,000 of its $515,000 overtime budget, he said. Of that $185,000, about $41,000 went toward fixing potholes with the rest for snowplowing, salt and sand, McKinney said.
The city still is moving ahead with its annual neighborhood street paving program, estimated to cost about $1.3 million, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of Youngstown’s public-works department.
“Patching streets has no impact on the citywide paving project,” he said.
Also, a repaving project on portions of four main city streets — including MLK between Rayen and Belmont avenues — will start later this month, Shasho said. City officials have said that section of MLK is among the worst roads in Youngstown.
WARREN
Warren Mayor Doug Franklin said the 10-day “blitz” the city carried out in late March succeeded in getting many of the biggest road hazards cleaned up, but the Operations Department still is sending crews out on a regular basis.
The more permanent repairs using “hot patch” will begin when plants that provide the material begin to open.
City officials felt the pothole problem was worse this year than normal because of the brutal cold spells during the winter, so it employed workers from departments such as wastewater and the health department.
Members of Laborer’s Union Local 935 also donated their time twice, and Miller Yount Paving of Bazetta donated the use of a truck and a driver to assist, he said.
Contributors: Staff writers Robert Connelly, Jordyn Grzelewski, Ed Runyan, Peter H. Milliken, Dave Skolnick and Brandon Klein