BOARDMAN — The township will begin its summer paving project next week and officials want residents to know who to thank for it.

Boardman awarded the $1.5 million contract to Lindy Paving, but much of the cost is covered by the 0.25% additional gas and sales tax, which Trustee Tom Costello hopes County Engineer Patrick Ginetti and Mahoning County commissioners will work to put back on the ballot. Trustees passed a resolution in support of the tax.

The additional tax, which voters approved in November 2021, generates about $9 million per year. Of that revenue, $4 million goes to townships for roads, $4 million to the county for the same purpose, and Ginnetti uses the remainder for bridge and infrastructure projects.

This year, Boardman will pave 9.15 miles of road. The township is responsible for about 145 miles of roads.

At Monday’s regular meeting, Boardman Township trustees said the township could not hope to cover half as much without the revenue from the sales tax.

Costello said they receive about $947,000 per year from the tax and have collected about $3.3 million in total since it went into effect. Costello noted that about 35% of that revenue comes from people outside the county who come here to work and shop.

“Without that money we couldn’t begin to pave our 145 miles of roads within a timely fashion, so it is imperative that that continues on,” Costello said. “So, that’s why we passed a resolution today, which all 14 townships are doing, so we can go to the county commissioners and say please put this back on.”

Road Superintendent Kim Blasco said most roads are paved on a roughly 10-to-15-year cycle, but the township will evaluate roads as needed. The roads being paved this year were graded within the past few years by an outside consulting firm, on a scale of 1-100. Most of the roads being paved rate between 10 and 30.

Beginning Sept. 2, Boardman will pave: Marwood Circle from Market Street to the cul-de-sac; Wildwood Drive from Glenwood Avenue to Mill Creek Boulevard; Brookfield Avenue from Glenwood to the dead end; Argyle Avenue from Montrose Avenue to Afton Avenue, and from Southern Boulevard to the dead end; Paxton Road from Melbourne Avenue to Brookfield; Larkridge Avenue from South Avenue to Glenridge Road; Brandon Avenue from Sheridan Road to state Route 170; Melbourne from Glenwood to Market Street; Pheasant Drive from U.S. Route 224 to East Huntington Drive; North Cadillac Drive and South Cadillac Drive from Glenwood to Market; Aylesboro Avenue from Glenwood to Market; Pearson Circle; Oak Avenue from Southern to the dead end; Brazelton Drive from Saddlebrook Drive to Presidential Drive; DeBartolo Court from Market to Southern; Creston Drive from Spring Garden Drive to Stoney Creek Drive; Sugar Tree Drive from 224 to the dead end; Timothy Lane from Straley Lane to the Youngstown city limit; Rush Boulevard from Annawan Lane to the city limit; Zander Drive from Baymar Drive to Hopkins Road; Carter Circle; Waggaman Circle; and Whitman Chase from Saddlebrook to Presidential.