DEAR EDITOR:

There is no question the county highway engineer should play an important role in the Council of Governments (COG) in order to support the primary function of the COG, which is local entities working together to solve problems. The relevant question is whether the county highway engineer should use his road taxes and resources to demolish buildings.

So, I recently contacted a majority of the 88 county engineer’s offices across the state, large and small, to ask them if they demolish buildings.

Not one of them, except Trumbull County, uses their road taxes and resources to demolish buildings. Yet, under Engineer Randy Smith, Trumbull County now ranks the 8th worst of 88 counties in Ohio for the most structurally deficient bridges in poor condition as of September 2023 by ARTBA and FHWA.

There are grants and other innovative alternatives available for the COG to save money on building demolition.

The Trumbull County highway engineer should be using all his road taxes and resources to rebuild more rotting bridges, resurface more roads, pipe more roadside ditches, replace more failing cross culverts, correct more flooding problems, repaint more worn pavement markings, replace more rusting guardrail, mow more high grass obstructing intersections, improve snow and ice control, etc.

These are the statutory duties of the county engineer for the benefit of all our townships and all our citizens — not demolishing buildings for a select few.

DAVID DeCHRISTOFARO

Niles