Sharonville council approves emergency culvert repairs, reaffirms plan and OKs rail‑crossing grant application

Sharonville City Council on May 26 voted unanimously to approve three emergency measures: a funding amendment to allow competitive bids for culvert repairs at Beakley Woods, reaffirmation of the city’s Sharonville 2030 comprehensive plan, and authorization to apply for a U.S. Department of Transportation Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant to study grade separation at the Sharon Road crossing.

The largest operational item, Ordinance 2026‑27E, will amend 2026 appropriations for the city’s capital fund to permit the safety service director to solicit bids and award a contract for culvert repairs at Beakley Woods. Steve, a public‑works staff member who addressed council, said the culvert inverts have deteriorated and that several metal bands are failing, a condition that pushed the project above the city’s direct‑award threshold and requires competitive procurement. Safety Service Director Mr. Lucas told council the work was not in the 2026 budget because the failures were only recently discovered and the ordinance is needed to proceed with bidding.

The council also passed emergency Resolution 2026‑R4‑E to reaffirm the Sharonville 2030 comprehensive plan. Mr. Lucas told council that OKI (the regional planning body referenced in the meeting) changed its scoring mechanism so a comprehensive plan must be within five years to attain maximum points; reaffirming the city’s priorities preserves the city’s eligibility under that mechanism.

Finally, Ordinance 2026‑28E authorizes the safety service director to prepare, submit and sign documents to apply for USDOT Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant funds to study whether grade separation is feasible at the Sharon Road crossing (between Canal and Mosellar). Mr. Lucas said the city applied last year and was unsuccessful but plans to refine the application; he noted council’s preference to keep the local match at an 80/20 split because adding more local match does not increase the grant application score.

All three emergency measures were advanced under rule suspension and passed on roll call with recorded votes in favor from each voting member present. The ordinances allow staff to move forward with procurement and the grant application; any contract awards and grant agreements will return to council for the standard authorizations and reporting required under city procedures.

The meeting record shows no public commenters on these items during the meeting. Council indicated no further discussion and approved the emergency readings and roll‑call votes at the May 26 meeting.