Elimination of position costs Niles

By Jordan Cohen

news@vindy.com

NILES

Elimination of the grants coordinator position as a cost-saving measure in the fiscal emergency recovery plan has cost the city instead.

Because no one is considered in “responsible charge” according to federal and Ohio Department of Transportation regulations, Niles is not eligible for federal funds for resurfacing and related programs, and can’t even apply for the grants.

In fact, Niles could be out of the running until the start of the next decade.

City Auditor Giovanne Merlo said he recently attended a meeting of the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments and discovered that the agency lists no improvement programs for Niles on its drawing board for the next four years.

“We have no projects in the works,” Merlo said. “Now until 2020, we have nothing at all.”

The unfilled position “limits the ability to access and receive federal money,” said Mark Hess, who oversaw an active street-resurfacing program when he was the city’s development and grants coordinator. “We’re the second-largest city in the [county], and we have roads eligible for federal funds.”

Hess resigned in 2015 to become Trumbull County Transit administrator. After his departure, his position, which paid $66,000, was left unfilled and eventually eliminated in the recovery plan.

“Niles won’t even be able to apply unless they have someone represent the city and learn all those things to make the application and ensure compliance,” Hess said.

ODOT requires local public agencies to have a “person in responsible charge” of federally funded projects. The department’s website states that the individual has to qualify by completing “required eLearning qualification modules.” ODOT prohibits the use of consultants to serve in the responsible charge position.

“[They don’t] want consultants on the hook for things that are wrong,” Hess said.

Safety Service Director Jim DePasquale said the cost to the city to hire a professional engineer to fill the position could be prohibitive given the city’s fiscal emergency. “You could be looking at $89,000, or paying a percentage of the [federal] grant, or a flat rate of six figures,” he said.

An ODOT spokesman, Matt Bruning, said, however, the person filling the position has to be a city employee who has to take qualifying training courses to be considered in responsible charge. The person does not have to be a professional engineer, Bruning added.

The grants coordinator position was eliminated in the original recovery plan submitted by then-Mayor Ralph Infante. Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia did not change the provision when he took office, but has since indicated it should be restored.

Council appears uncertain about its next steps, which would have to be reviewed by the city’s two financial supervisors to determine if general-fund money is available. Council President Robert Marino said the city may have no choice but to somehow find funding somewhere to either restore the position or create a new one.

“We need to make sure we have someone at the table,” Marino warned. “If no one is there, other communities will take the money.”