Photo by Robert A. DeFrank Pultney Township Trustee Mark Cervelli is re-elected to represent Trustees of the Belmont County Subcommittee of the Ohio Public Works Commission. He recommends that the cantons work together and with the municipalities for larger joint projects.

Preparations to make the most of available funds and to take advantage of developments in the area led the discussion Thursday when the Belmont County Association of Trustees met at the county engineer’s garage.

Trustees voted unanimously to reappoint Pultney Township Trustee Mark Cervelli to the local Belmont County subcommittee of the Ohio Public Works Commission. Cervelli, who has been on the board for about eight years, said cooperation between townships and municipalities will be the best way to get results in the future.

He said that combining smaller individual projects into larger, more comprehensive projects makes them more likely to be awarded priority points by the subcommittee and to be one of four projects recommended to the district committee. 18 in Marietta, Ohio.

Cervelli referred to a joint project the Township of Pultney is developing with the Village of Shadyside and the County of Belmont. The joint paving project will cost $375,000, with the Pultney Township portion being only $95,000.

He added that each applicant can apply for up to $400,000 in grants and $400,000 in loans for a project and available district funding will be decided based on the state allocation.

“I really think for small towns and townships, this is their way of competing with cities and district counties,” he said. “If we group you guys together, it can work out.”

Cervelli advised administrators to start working with surrounding communities now to have projects ready in a year or two. He said their projects will compete with those of communities in all other counties in District 18. At the county level, the subcommittee is made up of a representative from the trustees, office of engineer, commissioners, of a city, villages and a fifth member chosen by the other four. The county subcommittee will meet Nov. 7-11.

The Marietta committee will meet on December 6th.

Belmont County Engineer Terry Lively agreed with Cervelli.

“We encouraged entities to work together on their apps,” Lively said. “He will score better. … We try to bring as many OPWC dollars as possible to Belmont County, no matter who gets it.

Trustees also heard an update from Belmont County Planning Commission member Brian May. He updated trustees on the commission’s progress in updating and establishing rules for subdivisions since its inception in September 2021. May said the 10-member council is about two or three months away from presenting of a draft by-law to the Belmont County Board of Commissioners for approval.

After public meetings, new bylaws can be passed and an executive director of the planning commission appointed to implement them. This will have the advantage of having one office for the developers to work with, which will then route the plans to other offices such as the engineer or the health department.

Roads will also be inspected and developers will be required to post a security bond.

“The subdivision by-laws we have now are subdivision by-laws from 1963,” said Pultney Township Administrator Frank Shaffer. “These entrepreneurs come in, slam into a housing estate, and down the road… the townships get really hooked. … One of the main things with this planning commission is to go ahead and put in place subdivision regulations for these contractors to put in place to give them a bit of rules. Currently, we have no rules in this county. It’s almost the wild, wild west. They can pretty much come in and do whatever they want.

May said the issues the commission is focusing on include regulating public streets that townships would be responsible for, as well as drainage and stormwater management.

The new subdivision by-law will not be retroactive.

Jarrod Paintier, CEO of Ohio GIG, also spoke. His company installed underground fiber optic lines for Internet access, starting in the western half of the county near Belmont College and moving east. He said they were expanding primarily in Richland Township and now working along Ohio 331. Barnesville is on the lookout for an upcoming data center. There are currently 14 full-time employees and the company plans to hire more.

“We appreciate all of you guys,” Pantier said.

“I think we have a quality product,” Shaffer said. “It’s better than the towers…it gives us a better shape of the Internet.”