When Shannon Devitz was thinking about moving to Brookfield, people counseled her not to because the township has deplorable roads and does not have zoning, the now-Brookfield trustee said.
But, thanks to a 3.5-mill road levy approved by voters last fall, things will start to change in terms of the roads, she said.
The trustees on June 23 hired Kirila Contractors of Brookfield to pave six streets and part of another, the first allocation of the road levy money.
“This is a wonderful day to be a community member of Brookfield,” said Trustee Mark Ferrara, who led the evaluation of township roads that became the levy effort.
“We have now just turned the tide,” Ferrara said. “Now, I know everyone wasn’t in favor of it (levy), but, as (Trustee) Dan (Suttles) said and Shannon, too, we need to live up to what our commitment was and we will. This money’s going to be used specifically for roads. People will be driving Brookfield roads and they’ll see an immediate difference.”
Kirila was the only bidder, submitting the proposal of $392,627 that was approved by the trustees. Kirila will pave Lucy Street, North Stateline Road, Jane Street, Edmond Street, Erie Street, West Columbia Street and the section of Grove Street between Bedford Road and Route 7.
The company’s bid came in below the pre-bid estimate of $431,780, and the office of the Trumbull County Engineer reviewed the bid and approved it prior to the action of the trustees, township officials said. Much of the cost of the Lucy Street paving will be reimbursed by a state Issue 1 grant.
The project does not have an official start date. Township Road Supt. Jaime Fredenburg said July 25 that a presconstruction meeting will be held Aug. 4 and it’s likely the roads will be paved in September,
Suttles said it was cool that Devitz could be a part of the awarding. She was not a trustee when the levy passed, but spearheaded the promotional campaign for the levy, Ferrara said.
“I’m excited to be a part of it,” Devitz said. “It’s going to be a game-changer.”
With the contract awarding, the trustees expect they will still have about $90,000 left from this year’s levy proceeds. Part of that money likely will be used to repair bad sections of King Graves Road in conjunction with Hartford Township, Suttles said. The road runs on the border of the two townships.
The townships have applied for Issue 1 funding, in hopes that King Graves can be paved over the next two years.
