Kirila Contractors Inc. of Brookfield paves Valley View Road in July 2024, a project partially funded by an Ohio Public Works Commission Grant. Ohio voters on May 6 will be asked whether they want to continue that funding stream.
There is only one item on the May 6 primary ballot for Brookfield Township voters to consider, which likely means turnout will be poor. However, township Trustee Dan Suttles said he hopes people will come out because that item has been beneficial to Brookfield’s road program.
“Take a good look at it,” Suttles said.
Every 10 years, Ohio voters have been asked whether they want the state to issue bonds with the proceeds being doled out to counties and communities for infrastructure projects, such as “roads and bridges, wastewater treatment systems, water supply systems, solid waste disposal facilities, stormwater and sanitary collection, storage, and treatment facilities,” according to the ballot language.
It’s been 10 years since the last request, and voters are again being asked to decide if they want to continue the program. Although it’s the only issue on the ballot in Brookfield, it is called “Issue 2.” Ten years ago, it was called Issue 1.
If approved, the state would issue $2.5 billion in bonds, which it would pay back to buyers in no more than 30 years. The Ohio Public Works Commission awards the money to counties and communities based on recommendations from local Metropolitan Planning Organizations. MPOs are required by the federal government to give a voice to local communities and groups in transportation planning projects. Eastgate Regional Council of Governments administers the MPO that includes Trumbull County.
In the days before Brookfield voters passed a road levy in 2022, the township relied on OPWC grants and a general fund allocation of about $45,000 a year for its road paving program. Since the road levy was approved, the township has used OPWC dollars to accelerate the paving schedule.
“We have tapped into it as a township many times,” Suttles said.
Communities must put some of their own money into projects, and the more money a community puts in the more likely OPWC funding will be awarded and the larger amount of OPWC money it could be eligible for.
Here is Brookfield’s recent history of OPWC funding:
2018: The township received a $62,441 grant to install storm water drainage pipes on Rose Avenue.
2019: The township received a $149,862 grant to pave Rose, Park, Service, Budd and Charles streets.
2022: The township received a $150,000 grant to pave Syme Street.
2023: The township received a $75,000 grant to pave Lucy, North Stateline, Jane, Edmond, Columbia and Erie streets, and the eastern part of Grove Street.
2024: The township received a $150,000 grant to pave Golf, Spring, Wintergreen, Valley View, Wildwood and Albright McKay streets. The township also received a $1.6 million, no-interest loan to pave Hubbard Thomas, western Grove, Seaburn, Wood, Iron, Lincoln, Baxter, Stevenson, Francis, Margaret, Meek, Atlantic, Diamond, Linden, Owsley (north end), Balint, Thomas, Beddo, Lynita, Crestwood, Richard, Davis, Strimbu and Taylor streets.
2025: The township has been awarded a $224,000 grant to pave Campbell, Beaumont, Cleveland, Nicholas, Nellie and Mary Ann streets and Ohio Street between Stateline Road and Brookfield Avenue. The township also partnered with Hartford Township and successfully applied for a $150,000 grant to pave King Graves Road between Warner Road and Albright McKay Road. These projects are out for bid now.
“It helps out the township immensely,” Suttles said of OPWC grants. “Some of the projects that we do, we probably wouldn’t be able to do” without OPWC funding.
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