CONNEAUT — City council approved the next step for applying for snow relief at a Monday council meeting.
Council made City Manager Nick Sanford the city’s authorized agent to negotiate an agreement with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency for reimbursement.
City leaders have been seeking compensation from the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm, when the area got nearly three feet of snow, shutting down activity and requiring the state’s help to clear roads.
Sanford said the city does not have a timeline from hearing back from either the Ohio EMA or the Ohio Department of Transportation on the issue.
“We do have everything that we need in this submission,” he said. “This [ordinance] is the last piece of the puzzle as it was for this particular stage. My hope is it’ll be fairly seamless. There will be few if any questions or comments.”
The city is asking for roughly $392,000, $203,000 of which relates to damage on South Ridge Road, Sanford said.
“I’m not going to bear fault on ODOT or the city,” he said. “You had about four inches of packed snow and ice on that roadway from emergency vehicles having to traverse that roadway during that entire winter event. So, it had to be removed for people to be able to travel that roadway.”
Council passed a resolution requesting the speed limit on Route 7 from just south of Underridge Road to just north of Gateway Avenue be changed from 50 to 40 miles per hour.
Sanford said ODOT has to approve the speed limit change after a traffic study.
“It seems a bit much, considering we know what we know here,” he said.
City leaders have been interested in implementing a lower speed limit and placing traffic signals at the Route 7/Interstate 90 interchange to reduce crashes and fatalities.
“Recent developments have escalated the occurrence of motor vehicle accidents,” Sanford said.
He said that includes the death of a city resident last year.
Sanford said ODOT will include looking at Route 7’s speed limit in a study the agency is conducting on adding traffic signals to the interchange.
“The traffic study should be complete this fall,” he said. “I estimate an October draft. I would hope the reinvention of the wheel is unnecessary in this particular context.”
Council President Terry Moisio said he hopes the resolution will help with the matter.
“My patience with ODOT is running very, very low,” he said.
Second Ward Councilperson Chris Castrilla said he is thankful for Sanford’s work on the issue.
“We’ve done more than enough talk,” he said. “It’s time the state listen to us.”
Councilperson-at-large Mariana Branch said a lower speed limit could give people time to slow down when a semi-truck pulls onto Route 7.
The city’s 2025 paving project is substantially complete, Sanford said.
Koski Construction Company was awarded the contract for the city’s paving, which initially included portions of Main, Broad, Salem and Day streets.
Sanford said the city added a portion of Buffalo Street to the contract.
Moisio said he would be interested in having handicapped parking at portions of Main Street.
Broad Street phase one has completed deconstruction and storm sewer piping has been delivered, Sanford said.
Sanford expects excavation to start soon, he said.
The city, MS Consultants and ODOT will start planning the second phase of the project, he said.
The city is continuing to look at Rockwell Street, after a portion of its asphalt was replaced by gravel in July.
“We don’t see any immediate risks,” Sanford said. “That’s the good news.”
After concerns were raised by residents and city leaders, the city found longitudinal cracking on the entire length of the storm sewer.
The city is looking into alternative methods of dust control.
Seneca Products, the company providing the city’s dust suppressant, stopped delivering it to the city after concerns were raised to the company by Buckeye Environmental Network.
Sanford said there are expensive but environmentally safe alternatives available.
“We are one of many municipalities and entities throughout Ohio that are in a similar situation, who have aggregate roads,” he said.
Buckeye Environmental Network was scheduled to present to city council at the meeting, but no representatives were present.
City leaders will continue discussing the topic at the next work session.
The city will apply for two grants after council’s approval, both of which do not require local matches, Sanford said.
One is a $19,400 grant for Norfolk Southern’s Safety First Program, to buy wildland firefighting gear for the Conneaut Fire Department.
Sanford said the CFD learned about the grant opportunity when Norfolk Southern brought its safety train to the city and presented to local emergency services.
The other grant application is for the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Cemetery Program, to fund cemetery repairs.
The city applied for Canadian National Railway’s Corporate Giving Program to fund the display of components of a former Conneaut Hulett at Marine Memorial Park for educational purposes.
The inventor of the Hulett was born in Conneaut.