State disaster declaration to help get Kinsman causeway repairs started as soon as next week

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

KINSMAN

Gov. Mike DeWine’s authorization of a disaster declaration for Trumbull County on Friday will speed up the start of repairs to the Kinsman Lake Causeway, which experienced a partial washout July 20 in a huge rain event.

Work is likely to begin sometime next week, Trumbull County Engineer Randy Smith said. Before the disaster declaration, the start of work might have been a month or more away.

Smith said Friday the cost of the causeway work is about $1.85 million. Other work that has already been done and still needed in Kinsman, Greene and Gustavus townships brings the total cost to about $3.6 million.

Funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio Public Works Commission will be paired with the funding resulting from the disaster declaration to “make the county whole” for the work already done and the work still needed, Smith said.

Smith has indicated the causeway repairs needed to restore access to the Lakeshore neighborhood that was eliminated during the July 20 storm will take about 60 days once the contractor gets the go-ahead to begin. Paving and other work will take place after access is restored.

The governor’s office said in a news release from Columbus that the declaration means Trumbull is approved to participate in the State Disaster Relief Program, which is intended to provide supplemental state assistance for costs associated with debris removal, emergency protective measures and permanent work to help communities impacted by several weather.

State Sen. Sean O’Brien of Bazetta, D-32nd, said the funding provided through the State Disaster Relief Program provides 75 percent of the money. The county will provide the other 25 percent.

As explained at Thursday’s meeting at Kinsman Township Hall, any government funds used in the Kinsman area can be spent only on public roads, bridges and culverts, meaning none of the funding can be used to restore Kinsman Lake, which became a stream after the July 20 flooding washed away part of the causeway.

In addition to the damage to the causeway, the floodwaters damaged 12 other township culverts and roads. Other damage affected Gustavus and Greene townships.

Several other counties were also given the designation Friday for damages from storms in April, May, June and July 7. Among the closest were Belmont, Carroll and Jefferson counties for storms in mid-June.