CONNEAUT – It has been decided which roads will be paved in the City of Conneaut in 2026.
Final details are being determined to ensure that, when bids go out, they’re as accurate as possible.
“We have everything set up for this,” City Manager Nick Sanford said during a regular city council work session on Monday, April 6. “The engineers are going to, I believe, be out sometime this week or next, taking measurements for sections for repairs, on Old Mill and on Gateway for those components of bid specs. Everything’s off to the races on the road program.”
The streets to be included in the bid for mill and fill are Wrights Avenue from Detroit to Erie Street; Pearl Street from the township park entrance to Wrights Avenue; and Jackson Street from Mill to Broad. Partial-depth repairs to be included will be sections of Old Mill Road between Center road and Welton Road; and along Gateway Avenue, between State Route 7 and Dorman Road.
Council President Terry Moisio questioned whether there was room in the budget to patch some of the worst portions of Center Road as it is a main thoroughfare.
“It’s something we’ll have to look at budget-wise and see what we can do,” Moisio said.
Sanford agreed.
Ward 2 Councilman Chris Castrilla asked if Center Road wasn’t already included in the 2026 paving program.
“I think we brought it up maybe a meeting ago about just trying to patch as best we can, because it’s way outside the street levy budget for this year,” Moisio said. “I think it was like $320,000-some for a two-inch fill. It’s something we can look at and try to address as we move forward.”
Ward 3 Councilman Oakey Emery said the city’s roads definitely need some tender loving care.
“Today, I took a pretty extensive drive around town, and we’re in bad shape street-wise, just looking at all the streets that we didn’t even talk about (for paving in 2026),” Emery said. “We did talk about Rockwell Street, but there’s so many streets out there, it’s like, ‘Oh, my God!’”
“I just started up at Harbor Street and went north and all the way over to Whitney,” Emery continued. “I don’t envy (Sanford).”
Moisio told council that a big part of the problem is road cuts made for utilities and water main repairs made throughout the winter.
“Lake Road is getting worse,” At-Large Councilman Nick Perkoski said.
At-Large Councilwoman Mariana Branch said there were other areas needing repair, as well.
“I had two complaints,” Branch said. “One, I sent already with photos for Creek Road. The other thing is I had a complaint about the railroad tracks at Mill Street and we already discussed that we need to contact CSX. We all know that is very, very bad. Then, on Chestnut, I don’t know if that little section is ours, because it’s after the tracks. That’s really bad, and we know this.”
Sanford acknowledged that the city’s roads needed attention, but also noted that the levy funding street repairs only covers so much.
“This is nothing that’s not unknown,” Sanford said. “Council, everybody realizes we receive roughly $418,000 annually in street levy proceeds. It’s been that way since the levy was first approved, I think, in 2014. You could pave a little bit more in 2014 than you can in 2026.”
The conversation circled back to the long-standing conversation about a need for more funding.
“I’m going to always bring up the really tough topic, do we need a new road levy,” Branch said. “I’m going to go back to the roads. Is that something we need to discuss, because if you’re going to put a ballot issue on, we have to do that early. If you want to get on the November ballot, you’ve got to do it in August.”
Most recently, the city was able to pass a renewal of the current road levy in 2024 after attempting and failing to pass an increase.
“I, 1,000-percent agree with all of you, and no one wants it, but that has got to be the biggest issue in the city right now, at least that’s all I ever hear about,” Branch said. “We’re all hearing it. Is there a way to talk to the community about needing their help to make this happen? I’m bringing it up just food for thought, for future discussion.”
