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Perrysburg engineer urges council to back State Issue 2, highlights $5 million in OPWC funding to city
Summary
Brian Thomas, Perrysburg city engineer, briefed the committee on State Issue 2 and the Ohio Public Works Commission program, saying the city has received roughly $5.07 million through 24 projects since 1987; the committee chair plans to introduce a council resolution supporting the issue.
Brian Thomas, the City of Perrysburg engineer, told the Public Utilities Committee on Feb. 12, 2025, that State Issue 2 would continue the state capital-improvement funding program administered by the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC). Thomas said the city has received funding for 24 projects from the program since 1987, totaling roughly $5,071,000.
Thomas described District 5 as competitive and said OPWC scoring favors road and bridge projects over utilities. He explained scoring criteria used by OPWC and district subcommittees, including age thresholds (roughly 20 years for roadways, 50 years for utility assets) and traffic counts for roadway scoring. He said smaller requests (about $175,000 or less) can score better because they allow more projects to be funded in a district.
"So this what state law 2 does is, will allow the continuation of the state capital improvement program, which is administered by the Ohio Public Works Commission," Thomas told the committee. He added that "when I added up the total, it was 5,071,000 and some change. So a little over $5,000,000 that the city's got from this program, so excuse me, since we've been applying."
Thomas said each county within the district awards three bonus points for projects it selects, and district rankings are forwarded to Columbus for final review by OPWC. He said he sits on scoring committees to understand what scores well and to increase Perrysburg’s chances of receiving funding.
Committee leadership said they intend to send a resolution in support of State Issue 2 to full council and that the law director has been asked to draft a resolution for three readings. Thomas and committee members noted support for the issue at the state level and said preserving OPWC funding is important for smaller communities and for stretching local dollars on projects.
The committee did not take a formal vote on a resolution at the meeting; the committee chair said he will present a resolution for council consideration the following week.
