Owsley Street
Brookfield Road Supt. Jaime Fredenburg wants to put together a plan to improve dirt roads and get them accepted by the county for perpetual township maintenance, but he needs help.
“We can help you,” said Gary Taneri, chief deputy engineer for the Trumbull County Engineer.
The township trustees made a pledge to pave dirt roads a part of the campaign for a 3.5-mill road improvement levy that voters approved in November 2022.
“We don’t want dirt roads in Brookfield,” said township Trustee Dan Suttles.
Since then, the township has paved two dirt roads, Beddo Road and Iron Street, which already had been accepted.
There are more than a dozen dirt roads that have not been accepted, but improving them is not as simple as laying a course of asphalt on them. Looking at the five roads that Fredenburg considers the first priority due to the number of residences and businesses on them – Cherry Street, George Street, the section of Owsley Street off Warren Sharon Road, Wahabe Court and Rebecca Street – not all of them have been platted – mapped out on an approved plan, so it’s clear where the road is supposed to be.
In some cases, the roads have been dedicated for public use but the rights-of-way have not, and vice versa, Fredenburg said. Surveys will have to be done to determine the exact positions of the roads.
The county requires a 50-foot right-of-way – it recommends 60 feet, said county Engineer David DeChristofaro – but Cherry and Rebecca only have 33-foot rights-of-way, Fredenburg said.
“If you put a 20-foot-wide road in, by the time you get ditches in, you’re off the right-of-way,” Fredenburg said.
Workers can’t go off the right-of-way to make improvements without authorization from property owners. It’s likely an attorney will have to handle the process of getting rights-of-way from property owners, Fredenburg said.
In at least one case, a shed has been built on the right-of-way and will have to be removed before paving, he said.
To develop an improvement plan, the township has to examine the base of the current roads to determine if they are sufficient, review drainage and develop a drainage plan for those without it, and make sure the paving specifications meet the county’s requirements.
If pipe needs to be installed to improve drainage, the township policy is that the property owners pay for the pipe and the township installs it. That will require an agreement with the property owners and an assessment on their taxes if they don’t have the money up front, Fredenburg said.
“I want to make sure that we get them done correctly,” Fredenburg told representatives of the engineer’s office on Feb. 24.
Taneri said the engineer’s office will help Fredenburg with the process and developing a plan.
Fredenburg has identified Cherry, Wahabe and Owsley as his priorities.
