Community

Martins Ferry Officials, School Leaders Discuss Solutions to Road Concerns

Martins Ferry Mayor John Davies attended a school board meeting last week to address slips on Alumni Road and School Road.

"So, what I'm here to discuss is how can we resolve moving forward," Davies said. "These slips are not something that happened on these roads in the last five or six months. They started 10 years ago, and they should have been addressed 10 years ago. Why are we addressing it now?"

Davies said the slips are safety hazards.

"We don't want anyone to get hurt on these roads. That's why we limited them to bus traffic and emergency vehicles," he said.

School board member Allen Marangani said he would like to work with the city to repair and maintain Alumni Road.

"The school doesn't have a road department. The school doesn't have a police department. Alumni Road is not just for the school, it's for the community. Alumni Road is used by everyone," he said.

School board member David Bruney agreed.

"We want to work together, but our position -- I think I speak for everyone here on the school board -- we are not in the business of owning roads or maintaining roads. That's not something that we specialize in. We're relying on the city to do so," Bruney said.

"I'm sure we can come up with some kind of agreement to keep these kids safe. We're not here to fight with you guys. We're here to come up with an agreement," Davies said.

Davies said he would like to get Alumni Road repaired as soon as possible to keep people safe.

"We're going to take care of that road. ... Rest assured that School Road, we are going to be maintaining that road to the best of our ability," he said.

Davies said he is willing to have city workers plow snow and maintain Alumni Road.

"We plow that way for emergency vehicles so that they can get into the subdivisions much quicker," he said.

He said that since School Road is not open to through traffic and only leads to the school, the city will do limited snow removal on that road. He said he cannot pay city workers overtime to clear the roads on the weekend for sporting events or other extracurricular activities.

Davies said he accidentally found out that the city owns Alumni Road in December. He said neither he nor members of council received the deed for the land. He said the incident "didn't sit well with council." Council has since transferred the deed back to the school district.

Austin Musser, attorney at Bricker Graydon LLP, was hired by the school district to look into who is responsible for repairing the slips. He said he sent the deed to city Law Director Paul Stecker in October and did not know why city officials did not receive it.

"The reason we transferred the deed is because the city said that they wouldn't maintain roads unless they owned them," he explained.

Musser said the issue was caused by a lack of communication.

"Communication's got to get better among both sides," he added.

Davies said repairs for both roads could cost $1 million.

"There's no way the city can afford $1 million to repair the roads, and I'm not going to throw a levy on the people, Martins Ferry City residents, to pay for a road that only serves the school," he said.

Davies said if the school district would like to put a levy on the ballot for road repairs, he would be glad to assist district leaders in the process.

City Service Director Andy Sutak said that funding for the project will be an issue. He said he has been looking for grants or funding for the project and has had no luck. He explained that the Ohio Public Works Commission will not issue emergency funds for the project since the slip started nearly 10 years ago.

Sutak said he has been in contact with representatives from the Ohio Department of Transportation, and ODOT will not issue funding to repair the roads since they do not "create business."

"I said that hypothetically it does create business because the school is an educational system and technically a business," he said.

Sutak said businesses in the Colerain area also use Alumni Road to transport merchandise. He said that ODOT still turned down his request.

Sutak said he would like to work together with the school board to write letters to state representatives and the governor to seek federal funding to repair the roads. He said that Martins Ferry residents, teachers, students and others could also sign the letter to emphasize the number of people affected by the slips.

"We have a better chance working together," Sutak said.

Davies and school Superintendent Jim Fogle released a joint statement in December notifying the public that starting on Jan. 2, Alumni Road would be closed until further notice. The road is open only for school buses and emergency vehicles.