By CARL E. FEATHER - Staff Writer - cfeather@starbeacon.com
JEFFERSON — A package of 22 Ohio Public Works Commission projects, including one that would eliminate the need for the Austinburg Road bridge over the Western Reserve Greenway Trail in Saybrook Township, is heading for district review.
Ashtabula County Engineer Tim Martin said the top-ranked projects for 2010 total almost $2.3 million. The diverse list includes nearly $250,000 for water, sewer and road projects submitted by county commissioners, a $138,000 sludge filter press for Geneva-on-the-Lake’s wastewater treatment plant and $320,000 for a sanitary sewer at West 30th Street in Ashtabula.
The highest-ranking projects are in Conneaut, Geneva-on-the-Lake, Roaming Shores, Rock Creek Village, Andover Village and Township, Jefferson Village, Ashtabula City and Trumbull, Saybrook, Andover and Harpersfield townships.
Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) funds, formerly known as Issue 2, provide townships, villages, cities and counties in Ohio with funding for a range of infrastructure projects. Martin said the applications are scored on a number of criteria, then ranked according to their scores.
The funding comes from a 1 cent tax on gasoline and a bond issue that voters approve every 10 years.
Projects usually require a match, often 40 to 50 percent. Martin said projects that have a large match percentage receive a higher score and, usually, rank higher on the priority list.
Martin’s office is seeking $350,000 from OPWC to match up with federal stimulus money for a bridge project in Saybrook Township. Originally, the stimulus money was requested and received tentative approval for a bridge replacement on Wade Avenue. However, after the project site was inspected, the money was withdrawn because the existing bridge is adequate.
Martin wants to keep that money in the township but divert it to eliminate the Austinburg Road bridge over the Western Reserve Greenway Trail. The deck of the bridge is deteriorating, and Martin would like to rid the county of the maintenance liability.
“That bridge is 200 feet long and does not need to be that much of a span,” he said.
His plan is to remove the bridge and route the Greenway Trail through a concrete box culvert under Austinburg Road.
“It’s going to be almost identical to the one we did under Route 84,” Martin said. That tunnel was opened earlier this year and eliminated the need for trail users to cross the busy highway.
The Austinburg Road project is pegged at $650,000, $350,000 of which would come from OPWC.
Wade Avenue, which will become home to a new elementary schools campus for the Ashtabula Area City Schools, has not been forgotten in the process. Martin is seeking $240,000 for improvements to that road.
The list of prioritized projects will be reviewed on the district level Aug. 12 and compete with projects from Portage, Lake and Geauga counties.
“At that time, we should have a real good indication of what is going to be funded,” he said.
Once projects have been selected for funding, detailed applications must be submitted by the successful entities. Martin said those full applications are usually just a formality, however.
Ashtabula County typically receives about $1.3 million in OPWC funds annually; however, because of an economic stimulus measure Gov. Ted Strickland requested last year, the funding share this year is expected to be higher.
“With the extra funding, we expect it to be closer to $2 million this year,” Martin said.
