Residents press trustees over poor roadway finish; roads staff say crack sealing and ditching planned

Several residents used the public-comment period to ask the board to inspect subdivision streets and address drainage. Jerry Yackezko said the Rowland Hills road resembled a "Google Earth of the road" after recent sealing work and urged trustees to visit and evaluate the workmanship.

A separate resident, Tony Martin, reported standing water obstructing ditch mowing and noted prior outreach to road staff; the roads supervisor acknowledged prior visits and said flags for planned work would precede ditching and pipe repair.

Roads staff described a two-part strategy: extensive crack sealing to keep water out of the pavement's subbase and preserve the road in the short term, followed by targeted ditching, catch-basin replacements and, in some cases, future chip-and-seal or full reconstruction if warranted. Staff said older subdivisions frequently lack proper subbase preparation and that full reconstruction would be multimillion-dollar work that might require homeowner participation or bonding.

The roads supervisor said crack sealing is intentionally extensive on some streets to prevent water infiltration: "You do crack seal right off the bat to seal all them off so water doesn't get into the roadways," he said. He also said flags appearing in an area indicate crews will be on site within days for ditching or pipe repair.

Trustees agreed to have the roads supervisor follow up with concerned residents after the meeting to schedule inspections and explain timing for repairs.

Ending: Residents seeking long-term reconstruction were told the township has limited capital to reconstruct older subdivision roads and that scheduled crack sealing and ditching work aims to preserve pavement life until larger funds or homeowner-funded reconstruction can be arranged.