Council accepts Hobart Drive Project resolution

Following a presentation by Highland County Engineer Dean Otworth and Kevin Carpenter, a representative from an engineering design firm, the Hillsboro City Council approved a resolution Monday on the Carl Smith/Hobart Drive Project, which declared an emergency measure "necessary for the preservation of public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Hillsboro."

The resolution states, "For the reason immediate action is needed to provide adequate time for planning and construction of the project," as the approval by council became effective upon their vote Monday evening.

The project is an extension of Hobart Drive to the west from U.S. 62, and plans are to hopefully start on the project sometime in 2013, depending on the overall funding.

In a packet presented to the council, the project will take place in three parts. Part one will be a total cost of $3,471,672.65 with a 0-percent contingency (for the county), while Part 2 (in the city) will be at a cost of $2,542,531.30, again, with a contingency of 0 percent.

Part 3 (also in the city) is still a work in progress with an estimated cost of $1,074,477.25. The total for the city in parts two and three of the project would be $3,617,008.55.

In the presentation to council, Otworth spoke about the funding options for the project, which are the A.R.C. (Appalachian Regional Commission), OPWC (Ohio Public Works Commission) and if necessary, the E.D.A. (Economic Development Administration).

"This project is available for the funding from the ARC … the current level of funding is about $1 million per year that's available throughout the district," Otworth said. "There's a meeting (Tuesday) where we'll find out the funding sources. They are talking about that money going from $1 million to $3 million, and they (the ARC) are looking for projects like this one … especially with PAS [Technologies] and the job creation that's going on out here, this project is prime for receiving funding for that.

"Both funding sources are both access road money and EDA are federal funds … the cap on that is at 80 percent … I'm very optimistic, and I wouldn't be here if I wasn't very confident this project wouldn't receive both those funds at the 80-percent."

Otworth continued to explain the details of the funding.

"Whatever percentage you want to go at … 50-30, 40-40 … more than half doesn't cover it, but if it is … then 80 percent, the funding is there," Otworth said. "Then the balance of 20 percent will be a combination of Ohio Public Works Funds through District 15, and I feel very confident that grant can go to $500,000 or even higher. I just put a scenario together where a combination of EDA, ARC and OPWC grants will be around 90 to 95 percent of the project with a zero-interest loan to the city over a 30-year payment.

"In a range of 30-year payback with a 0-interest loan, it would be around $220,000 and less than $7,500 a year payback to the city of Hillsboro on a project like this."

Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Rick Giroux spoke to council following Otworth.

"My office concurs with the county engineer's assessment," Giroux said. "Phase two, part two, the Careytown portion, is an absolute must."

Giroux said that "the funding package is already in place" for this plan.

"The city can do a $3.5 million-plus project of this scope, to not only assist with traffic flow, but also promote longterm business investment and at the same time alleviate the congestion problems we're having," Giroux said. "And our contribution is anywhere from $7,500 to $10,000 annually? It's the sweetest deal I've ever seen in an infrastructure budget."

In applying for the funding, the preliminary application has be submitted by the City of Hillsboro, and the OPWC application is due on Oct. 5, 2012. The EDA application (if necessary) can also be submitted in October.

Part one is the county side of the project, according to Otworth, as it will go from S.R. 73 to Homestead Avenue. Part two "will pick up where the first part leaves off" and will proceed to U.S. 62.

"(U.S. Route) 62 and (state Route) 73 will also have lane improvements," Otworth told council. "In addition to lane improvements and turn lanes, it will also include traffic signal upgrades to Harry Sauner Road.

"The addendum would include picking up where the intersection design or where the roundabout design left off, at Careytown Road and Harry Sauner Road."

The third part of the project at Careytown and Harry Sauner Roads will include lane improvements and curb/gutter design.

Carpenter said part two of the project is a rebuilding of the entire road as the packet presented to council included costs for roadway, erosion control, drainage, pavement, lighting, traffic control, structures, maintenance of traffic and incidentals.

Carpenter told council that part two of this project, the Hobart/Carl Smith portion, would alleviate a lot of the current traffic problems which currently exist.

"[The traffic signals] are going to be interconnected with Harry Sauner and work in conjunction with each other for traffic to proceed along in a much better manner than currently exists," Carpenter said.

Carpenter said that the driveways to Southern State Community College and the Hobart plant would be improved to three lanes, where traffic could go left or right out of the driveways.

"We'll basically create a new road going from Homestead over to 73 [because] we anticipate a lot of traffic going down 73," Carpenter said.

He added that there will be dedicated turn lanes for left turns out of the city and dedicated right turn lanes onto Hobart.

Harry Sauner Road will become a "restricted access route," according to Carpenter, who said that traffic would not be able turn left onto Careytown Road from Harry Sauner Road due to the addition of a concrete median.

Carpenter said that the designs for the first two stages of the project are finalized and approved, and he hopes that plans for the "addendum" will be complete within the next six months.

"We're hoping to get all that wrapped up so that construction can start late next year," Carpenter said.

Following Carpenter's presentation, Otworth spoke about more about the project.

"Without the improvements on Careytown Road … with the intersection currently, we're anticipating four-to-five thousand vehicles a day on this new road," he said. "If we don't make the improvements on Careytown and Harry Sauner, it will dump a large portion of traffic onto the existing Careytown Road, and it will create some major heartburn for the city because the current condition of the road is not the best … it's narrow … and we've also had intersection issues.

"This is a design in the long run I feel will solve several problems and also not create problems for the city."