A project that began in 2007 moved a step closer to reality when Wooster City Council unanimously approved a pair of resolutions relating to the planned improvement of State Route 585/Akron Road.
Its been a long winding road but were finally there, said Councilman Jon Ansel during councils first meeting of 2011.
According to Ansel, council has approved a series of five resolutions for Phase 1 of the 585 improvements. Those resolutions enabled the city to complete design work, an environmental survey, engineering plans and the application for ODOT financing on a $1.7 million project to improve the stretch of 585 from Old Airport Road to Gateway Drive.
According to Ansel, a second phase of the project, which is expected to cost an additional $2.7 million, will eventually expand the improvement beyond the city limits of Wooster.
Once both phases are complete in the 2012-2015 timeframe, a corridor with turning lanes, sidewalks and bike paths stretching from Wooster through Smithville will be created.
Its remarkable for me as a city council representative to see the deliberateness, the diligence and the successful completion of a funding vehicle that allows for major infrastructure improvements to our wonderful city at virtually no cost to the taxpayers, said Ansel noting that 80 percent of the funding for Phase 1 of the project will be provided by ODOT.
According to Ansel based on the current engineering estimates the preliminary assessment for land owners, who will pay the remaining 20 percent of the project costs, is $65.15 per frontal footage. The highest assessment will be the CVS property at $21,800; the lowest is expected to be about $3,800.
City Engineer Joel Montgomery advised council that the amount of the property assessments will be brought before council for their approval after the Equalization Board has the opportunity to make adjustments to the preliminary assessments. The amount of the final assessments wont be determined until the project is complete and the entire cost of the project is determined.
In introducing the resolution declaring the necessity of the project Ansel noted that the resolution allows the city to start the assessment process and issue bonds to cover the property owners assessments should they decide to finance the assessment for 15 years rather than pay a lump sum up front.
Ansel noted that the city has been successful in acquiring verbal agreements granting the city the necessary rights of way from all of the land owners affected by the project.
All but two of those land owners have already signed formal right of way contracts.
According to Ansel CVSs corporate offices have approved the agreement in concept and are currently processing the final documents. One of the co-owners of the other remaining property recently passed away out of state and while his family is in favor of signing the documents the proper arrangements for the execution of the documents still need to be worked out.
In order to keep the project on track council approved companion legislation providing the city with the authority to initiate legal proceedings against these two property owners to compel the signing of the agreements should that be necessary in the future.
We hope to have the documents complete, however if we dont we have to have the option of eminent domain to secure this property at a reasonable value so the project is not delayed, said Ansel.
We dont anticipate that happening but just as a safeguard weve initiated this piece of legislation, said Ansel adding this is nothing more than administrative protocol to allow us to initiate that process to meet the required timeline imposed by ODOT.
