Council OKs Kolbe Road upgrades

Project to help new subdivision on west side

Kolbe Road will get an upgrade in anticipation of a new neighborhood coming to Lorain’s west side.

But three city legislators voted against the financial plan to pay for the project.

On Oct. 16, Lorain City Council voted 8-3 to approve a resolution of necessity to resurface and improve Kolbe Road from Jaeger Road 2,555 feet north to West Erie Avenue, which is U.S. Route 6.

By the same vote count, Council defeated a resolution that would have rescinded its earlier resolution of intent to finance the project.

Development company Lorain Cornerstone Farms LLC will pay $450,000 for the road work over 20 years. Developer Tom Oster aims to build about 151 new homes on almost 53 acres at the intersection of Jaeger and Kolbe roads.

Councilman-at-Large Joe Koziura opposed the payment plan and supported the resolution to rescind the notice of intent. In the votes, Koziura was joined by Ward 4 Councilman Greg Argenti and Ward 5 Councilwoman JoAnne Moon.

There was no discussion about the resolution to rescind the notice of intent, which came first on Council’s meeting agenda.

But in discussion about the resolution of necessity, Council members had questions and arguments for and against the road project.

Koziura argued Lorain’s portion of the project will cost “far more” than $12,128, as stated in the city Engineering Department’s estimated cost.

“It leads me back to the debate on this issue,” Koziura said.

For a road improvement job, normally Lorain would assess benefiting property owners based on the width of their lots along the road,

Koziura said.

Here, the city is expecting to collect future assessments over 20 years based on a lot to be divided in the future, Koziura said.

“What’s unfair in this whole thing is the talk that somehow we’re getting something out of the sky and it’s not costing the city any money,” Koziura said. “Quite frankly, that’s not the truth.”

The future owners of the 151 lots will pay for the city’s share of Kolbe Road, Koziura said. “How fair is that?” he said.

“How come we don’t assess all of Kolbe Road, all the folks that sit on Kolbe Road, the hospital, everybody that’s going to benefit, is going to have this new road?” Koziura said. “They’re going to have more benefit than those folks are in that new subdivision.”

He called the situation unfortunate because the city should have required Lorain Cornerstone Farms LLC to pay for the improvements up front.

“There’s no free money here,” Koziura said.

Council’s agenda included documents and

plans that estimated a cost of $420,117, plus a 10 percent contingency fund, for a total cost of $462,128. The city generally adds a 10 percent contingency amount for unforeseen costs in public projects, so that percentage was not atypical.

The road work will be done in 2018, said SafetyService Director Dan Given. Argenti questioned when the homes are built, if heavy construction equipment would damage the new surface.

“You have to understand, the project is already scheduled to be done, the road work is needed right now,” Given said. “If we don’t go forward with this resolution, the money that we can bring in from the development can help pay for this. We’re doing this anyhow, so by passing this resolution we help fund the project. Otherwise it’s being paid for by the city regardless.”

Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski said Kolbe Road has serious issues that need to be fixed.

With the developer paying toward the work, it will make money available for Council to spend in other

parts of Lorain “that are in desperate need,” she said.

“I have to support this because those other areas desperately need their roads addressed,” Springowski said, referring to Wards 2 and 3. The buyers of the lots know what they are getting into with the costs, she said.

Councilman-at-Large Mitch Fallis said the same people ultimately will pay for the Kolbe Road improvements and will benefit from it.

“It’s just how it’s characterized,” Fallis said. “I see no reason why we have to stop this project and go to a different method.”

Argenti questioned whether the pavement would last seven years or longer and whether Lorain can assess over 20 years, which is longer than the life expectancy of the project. Given noted the road would be built to last, even with the heavy construction traffic.

“We make them last a lot longer than seven years,” Given said. Koziura noted permanent improvement projects in Lorain do have life expectancies as outlined by Ohio law.