Summit County Engineer's Office

Akron, Ohio – Alan Brubaker, P.E., P.S., Summit County Engineer, announced today, Tuesday, December 6, 2011 that he will be seeking another term as County Engineer. Brubaker has held the post since January of 2009. 

“We have made significant strides in reforming the Engineer’s office to adjust to the changing economic climate,” Brubaker said. “In roughly two and a half years we have created collaborative programs that have reduced costs for road maintenance, made the office more accessible to citizens, instituted stricter budgetary controls, and reduced overhead. I look forward to another four years of hard work serving Summit County citizens.”

Brubaker believes that smart collaborations and fostering partnerships are critical for reducing costs, yet maintaining services during this time where all governments are cutting their budgets. In 2011, the Summit County Engineer’s office spearheaded and administered the largest collaboration of local governments going out to bid as a single unit for pavement maintenance work. The larger purchasing power created by bidding for pavement maintenance items as one unit leads to a smaller per unit costs for all participants, while the municipalities still maintain local control over the projects.  In the end, seven townships, two cities, and one village, in addition to the County, worked together to lower the cost of doing business.

Brubaker also reduced personnel costs by teaming up with the City of Norton to provide engineering services.  The City of Norton gets a dedicated City Engineer at a lower cost for them and the County Engineer’s office saves money in personnel.  In 2009 the Summit County Engineer’s office updated their contract with the City of New Franklin to continue to perform their snow and ice control.  In 2011, the office signed agreements with the Village of Lakemore to provide general maintenance services for their village using county employees and equipment.

Brubaker instituted strict fiscal policies in order to keep the office afloat during times of declining revenue.  The first policy is to track gross revenue from other major funding sources to provide a clearer picture for fiscal use. Previously, only local funds were tracked if state or federal funding was paid directly to contractors. The second policy is to establish a responsible minimum fund balance policy. Maintaining a reasonable fund balance is required to ensure that the office is not spending beyond its means, while fully utilizing the tax dollars collected on improvements.  Finally, Brubaker does not use debt financing for capital projects and instead opts for a “pay-as-you-go” system.  No new debt has been acquired by the Engineer’s office since January of 2009.

Engineer Brubaker also worked hard with state and federal leaders to bring in dollars to help fund local road improvements.  As a result, the Engineer’s office will be making significant safety and accessibility improvements to Summit County roadways within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) with the recent approval of his grant application for $1,947,393.00 of Public Lands Highway Discretionary funds.  This additional money will help improve the average Pavement Condition Index of Summit County’s roadways and make the CVNP safer and more accessible for citizens.

Brubaker is a lifelong resident of Summit County.  He currently lives in Springfield Township with his wife of 37 years.  They have three children.

Akron, Ohio – Alan Brubaker, P.E., P.S., Summit County Engineer, announced today that he will be making significant safety and accessibility improvements to Summit County roadways within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) as the result of the approval of his grant application for $1,947,393.00 of Public Lands Highway Discretionary (PLHD) funds. 

Details of specific projects must be worked out with the Ohio Department of Transportation, who is responsible for providing oversight of the grant, as well as Cuyahoga Valley National Park officials.  Use of the funds is specifically targeted for improvement to County roadways within the CVNP. Engineer Brubaker credited the hard work of Congresspersons Betty Sutton and Tim Ryan and the County Engineer's grant writing staff for securing this grant.

The improvements to the roadways will include:

• performing speed and safety studies throughout the CVNP,
• addressing environmental and erosion concerns,
• upgrading gravel shoulders to asphalt shoulders,
• repairing and resurfacing roadways,
• widening shoulders for bicycle travel, and
• constructing trail heads, scenic overlooks and park and ride facilities.

Different than roads in other National Parks, the roads within the CVNP are not owned by the park, leaving responsibility for their maintenance and improvement with local government. The County roads within the CVNP are essentially as they were before the park was created in 1974 and they are in need of millions of dollars in improvements to bring them up to the standards to accommodate the millions of people who now use them for access and recreation throughout the park. Engineer Brubaker estimates that there are $50 million of local road improvements needed within the CVNP.

“This grant will give us a great start at tackling these needs,” Brubaker added.