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Broadview Heights mayor proposes $500,000 boost to 2026 road fund; council asks for maps and resurfacing history
Summary
Mayor Samuel J. Alai told council he wants to raise the 2026 road fund from $1.5 million to $2 million to pay for additional road projects. Council requested a street-by-street map with resurfacing dates and discussed an interactive public map that would require outside consulting.
Mayor Samuel J. Alai asked Broadview Heights City Council to support raising the 2026 road fund from $1.5 million to $2 million, a $500,000 increase intended to pay for additional road repairs and resurfacing. Councilmembers agreed to place the proposal on a future agenda for formal approval.
Council President Robert Boldt opened the discussion after Alai summarized the increase. Councilor Joe Price asked that the city provide residents a clearer record: alongside a map of planned repairs, Price said the city should show when each street was last resurfaced so residents can see whether a road has been neglected for decades. ‘‘It would be nice when you give us this list ... let us know when they were last resurfaced with a date,’’ Price said, asking for captions that show the last resurfacing date.
Engineer Ethan Neff said staff will try to produce a user-friendly map and can add the paving list to the city website. Neff cautioned that records and aerial imagery for very old streets can be incomplete, and suggested the city could indicate when a date is not known. Councilor Glenn Goodwin urged that the city consider how different streets receive different wear — for example, cut-throughs and heavier vehicle routes — when prioritizing repairs.
Members debated whether to pursue a more advanced public-facing map. Councilor Brian Wolf proposed an interactive map with photos and clickable street details; Neff said such a product is possible but would require hiring an outside consultant or GIS firm and, in some cases, new software licenses. Jennifer Mahnic suggested looking for funding or internships to help develop the tool; council asked Neff and Finance Director Dave Pfaff to provide cost and scope estimates.
Neff also outlined several engineering items related to 2026 road work that council referred to the agenda: a $46,000 Cuyahoga County preventative maintenance award for acceptance; authorization to bid the 2026 paving program; and a $15,150 memorandum of understanding for MS4 erosion-control inspections with Cuyahoga County Soil & Water. Neff requested council place those items on a future agenda for formal action.
The council discussed material choices and maintenance plans as part of the broader paving conversation. Members asked staff to include, where possible, the mileage paved each year and a clear explanation of why some streets wear out faster than others. The council did not vote on the road-fund increase during the work session; members agreed to take the formal action at a subsequent meeting.
