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Additional revenues to beef up road repairs in Middletown



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Additional revenues to beef up road repairs in Middletown photo
Gary Stelzer

The city of Middletown will use additional revenues to make street repairs throughout the city this year.

By Ed Richter

Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN —
The city will use a portion of general fund revenues to pave roads and make other street repairs that had previously been cut due to budget restrictions.

Middletown’s general fund revenues were higher that anticipated at the end of 2014, so council has approved a portion of the $1 million in revenues for road improvements.

A total of $350,000 will be budgeted into the Auto & Gas Tax Fund for paving, patching and crack sealing in addition to the $400,000 that was transferred to the Capital Improvement Fund, according to Scott Tadych, public works director.

“We are in the process of finalizing the list of streets to be paved,” he said.

The 2015 budget did not include a local paving program due to budget restrictions, but the infusion of additional funding will enable the city to have a paving program this year.

Improvements to Central Avenue between University and Breiel boulevards are also scheduled for this year, Tadych said. The estimated $3 million project will include resurfacing, waterline replacement, storm sewer upgrades and approximately $1 million worth of paving. Of the total amount, the city’s share is $2 million and an Ohio Public Works Commission grant will pay for any costs related to the project, not just paving, according to Tadych.

Also to help the city’s efforts to maintain streets, council approved the purchase of a 48-inch Asphalt Zipper through the state bid program for an amount not to exceed $130,684. The 2015 Municipal Garage fund has budgeted the funds for the purchase.

The Asphalt Zipper is a motorized attachment used on the front bucket of a backhoe or loader. It is used in the surface grinding of asphalt paved streets, parking lots and alleys as well as for utility cuts to replace water mains, sewer lines and storm water piping.

The attachment also eliminates the need to dig out large pieces of asphalt that would need to be hauled away to a waste pile when repairing streets or installing utilities. Currently the cities of Dayton and Hamilton own and utilize their own Asphalt Zippers.

Council will also distribute revenue funds of $200,000 to the Termination Pay Fund to fund any additional retirements through the end of the year.

The layoff of 11 firefighters combined with the departure of several employees with a large amount of leave time on the books caused the city to spend more than anticipated, according to a report from Finance Director Michelle Greis. As a result, the city’s Termination Pay Fund was at $75,000 at the end of 2014.

The city has already had several employees retire since the start of 2015 that depleted that balance as well as most of the 2015 budget allocation, the report said.

The transfer of $400,000 to the Auto & Gas Fund was also needed to prevent ending 2015 with a negative balance, which would violate state law, according to Greis.


What a crock!!!! They came into my subdivision today and just through loose blacktop into holes in the street. We have weeds that grow in the blacktop. One neighbor use to spray the weeds in the street until he found it cost too much. Our neighborhood streets were taken care of when Judge Valen and Mr VanArsdale were my neighbors!!! Now we can't get plowed when it snows for 2 to 3 days!!!! What a joke. By the way next weekend when it is 50 degrees and it rains the blacktop in the holes will wash away!!!!!