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Engineer sees regional necessity for road upkeep
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - April 28, 2011)
Engineer sees regional necessity for road upkeep
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Geauga County could be looking soon at the day when townships will have to band together to get basic road services done.
That is the thinking of Geauga County Engineer Robert Phillips, who said today's economic climate may be forcing townships to ultimately join each other to keep roads ready for motorists.
Like school districts in Ohio, which once numbered in the thousands and have shrunk to about 600 through mergers, Mr. Phillips said, townships may be facing a choice of cutting services or working out cooperative agreements to keep roads serviceable.
The tough economic times are putting strains on the small budgets of the local governments, he said, and they will be forced to trim services or find others ways to deal with the costs associated with road work.
One thing not in decline, Mr. Phillips said, is the public's demand for those services. "People want cul-de-sacs to look like I-90," he said.
He said there has been a trend in America that he believes may have originated in the 1960s and 1970s with the civil rights movements. "Everybody has rights." He said that has translated to people believing they have rights to certain services the government provides.
He said the demand for services has only increased over time and is unlikely to be curtailed soon.
Recent developments have only reinforced his belief that local governments are in for tough times in trying to meet those expectations of the public, Mr. Phillips said.
He said Gov. John Kasich has presented a budget that eliminates much of the dollars flowing from Columbus to the local communities. "The way he's going we will have no choice but to cut services," he said.
He said some parts of the state already are joining forces with cooperative agreements to share the load. Counties in central and southern Ohio are helping townships with duties such as ditching through cooperative agreements.
He said Geauga County has aided townships when there is a need for specialized and expensive equipment, such as sewer jets and crack sealing machines. Those items have been leased to townships when needed to help them avoid the cost of having to buy them, Mr. Phillips said.
The reason it will become increasingly difficult to maintain the local departments is that the cost of maintaining a road department comes at a steep price, he said.
When he began his career as county engineer in the early 1970s, Mr. Phillips said, several townships did not have road departments. Chardon, Munson, Troy and Middlefield townships were among those who hired outside contractors to perform road repairs and maintenance.
A township like Munson was able to eventually build a solid road department, but the process was slow because of the costs involved, he said.
He said townships likely need to spend in the neighborhood of $400,000 to $500,000 before they can even hire their first road employee. A loader can cost in the neighborhood of $100,000, and one plow truck, another $120,000.
Many of the townships in eastern Geauga County remain rather small with one or two employees in their road departments, and increasing growth and demand for services will only tax them more if the economics are not there to hire more workers, he said.
"The economy has taken a huge turn," Mr. Phillips said. "And I think we're in for a long-term recovery."
Mr. Phillips said he has lived through recessions in the past, particularly in the 1970s. It took two to three years for the economy to recover completely, he said.
However, he said, this recession seems to be much more deeply seated and may take many more years to bounce back, if at all, he said. "It may never be what it was."
With the global market making a U.S. recovery all the more difficult, it may ultimately lead to Americans having to get used to a different standard of living, he said. "I believe it may force people to coordinate with their neighbors as much as possible."
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