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Summit County Engineer’s office holds meeting for 2012 Pavement Maintenance Collaboration Program

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Akron, Ohio – Alan Brubaker, P.E., P.S., Summit County Engineer held a meeting this morning, Wednesday, December 7, 2011, for all communities interested in participating in the 2012 Collaborative Pavement Maintenance Program.  The kick-off meeting was held in order to distribute information and the 2012 pavement maintenance calendar to cities, villages, and townships looking to participate, as well as to gather community input and answer questions and concerns. 

The Summit County Engineer’s office bid process was opened up to other communities in Summit County in 2011.  The idea behind the collaboration is that the larger purchasing power created by bidding for pavement maintenance items as one unit will lead to a smaller per unit costs for all participants, while the municipalities still maintain local control over the projects. The Summit County Engineer’s office administers the County-wide program. 

“Times are tough financially for local governments and the taxpayers,” said Engineer Brubaker.  “As a result we, as elected officials, must identify ways to cooperate to reduce the costs of services.  It just makes sense to develop this new collaboration among Summit County communities. A regional approach can save money and promote efficiency in our road programs without reducing the level of services.  It's a win-win-win situation for the County, municipalities, and the townships.”

The kick-off meeting presented the traditional pavement maintenance contracts (hot mix paving, seal coat and motor paving, asphalt rejuvenation, spot paving, pavement marking, and crack sealing) and Summit County Engineer’s office employees discussed the possible addition of two new programs to the county-wide bids: concrete road repair and culvert replacements.

Many officials were involved in the creation of the County-wide program.  The Summit County Engineer’s office would like to thank the following political subdivisions for sending officials to this morning’s meeting: Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, Bath Township, Copley Township, Coventry Township, Sagamore Hills Township, Springfield Township, Village of Boston Heights, Village of Mogadore, Village of Northfield, Village of Reminderville, Village of Richfield, City of Akron, City of Barberton, the City of Fairlawn, and the City of New Franklin.  The County Engineer also extends special thanks to Summit County Councilwoman Sandra Kurt for her involvement. 

 

Summit County Engineer Alan Brubaker, P.E., P.S. announces bid for reelection

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Akron, OhioAlan 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.

 

Summit County Engineer receives $1.95 million Public Lands Highway Discretionary Grant

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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.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 August 2011 13:09
 

Emergency Portage Lakes Drive Closure

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Coventry Township, OH – The Summit County Engineer’s office will be closing a portion of Portage Lakes Drive between Peach Drive and Cormany Road due to a failure of the roadway on Tuesday, August 2, 2011. Due to persistent erosion exacerbated by the July 19th storm, there is a failed retaining wall, eroded berm, and failure of the eastbound pavement edge. 

Portage Lakes Drive will be closed beginning at 8am August 2nd.  The road will remain closed while workers are reconstructing the roadway. 

Traffic on Portage Lakes Drive will be detoured during normal working hours to give maintenance workers the opportunity to excavate the failed portion of the roadway and to facilitate repairs to the retaining wall. During the evening hours and on weekends, Portage Lakes Drive will operate with alternating one-way traffic flows at the work zone.  A temporary traffic signal will control the traffic when workers are not present on-site. The signal will be in operation indefinitely until reconstruction work is completed and we restore the road back to a safe width for two-way traffic.

The detour will be along Manchester Road to State Mill. Detour routes will be posted.  Road closed signs will be posted to alert motorists when all traffic must follow the posted detour. When the road is closed access to all local properties will be maintained at all times.  Access to Manda Bait and Tackle (947 Portage Lakes Drive) and the State Park will be from the east when the road is closed.

 

Letter to SCE employees for a job very well done

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I want to thank all of the Summit County Engineer’s employees for their hard work and heroic actions as a result of the early Tuesday morning rainfall that threatened the safety of Summit County citizens and County infrastructure.  You are all to be commended for the sacrifices and long hours you put in to make sure our roads, bridges and culverts remained safe for traffic.  I have never been more proud to work with all of you. 

Public Services crews were out in the field starting at 5:30am on Tuesday and worked well into the evening.  On Tuesday, your quick work saved the Bolanz Road Bridge over the Cuyahoga, as well as helping the nearby flood waters recede.  Crews had to cover northern, western, and southern Summit County quickly in order to mark hazardous areas with road closed signs, cones, and barrels.  Debris had to be removed from numerous County highways and washouts along roads had to be stabilized. 

Yesterday (Wednesday), crews continued to protect the integrity of Summit County roadways by stabilizing washouts and removing debris from roads and culverts.  The embankment of the Brush Road Bridge over Furnace Run had eroded dangerously and workers backfilled and reinforced the area in order to get the road open to traffic by 5:15pm yesterday evening.  Crews also reinforced the erosion threatening North Turkeyfoot Road by Portage Lakes Drive with NO disruption of traffic. 

It should also be noted that you guys did all of this on some of the warmest days of the year. 

Work to clean up and repair County infrastructure from this storm will continue for several weeks and it will take a few days to know the extent of damages and costs, but your service has been invaluable to this office and to Summit County citizens.  From our front office receptionist, to our Public Services office manager recording constituent concerns and logging projects for further attention; from our highway workers to our engineers reacting quickly and decisively to respond to the numerous emergency issues; you all have symbolized was it means to be in public service.  Thank you again for all your hard work.

Sincerely,

 

 

Alan Brubaker, P.E., P.S.

Summit County Engineer


 
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