4
Business View Magazine
sustain our infrastructure. More affluent or prominent
communities may not have the issues of sustainability
that we have. But there are a lot of communities that
experience the same challenges that we face here in
Warren. So what do we do to sustain everything that
we have and still find a way to move forward with an
optimistic sense of the future? How are we going to
build and grow?”
Makosky’s department assists the city administration
and City Council in the development of a Capital Im-
provement Plan (CIP). The department secures grant
funds to complete projects and develops plans, specifi-
cations, and estimates in accordance with the plan. In
the years between 2008 and 2014, over $32.6 million
was spent on infrastructure projects in the City of War-
ren, Ohio. The funds came from a mixture of Federal
Highway Administration monies, the Ohio Department
of Transportation, the Ohio Public Works Commission,
Community Development Block Grants from the Fed-
eral Department of Housing and Development (HUD),
a local bond issue, and the city budget. Warren’s share
of the tab over those years was approximately 12 per-
cent of the total. The city’s five year plan for 2015-
2019 is presently estimated to be just shy of $17 mil-
lion. Warren’s share will be approximately $970,000.
The Engineering Division also makes general assess-
ments of the roads and other city infrastructure. The
information guides the road resurfacing and main-
tenance programs. Recognizing a declining revenue
base in the city and the rising costs of construction,
the engineering department has taken steps to extend
the practical service life of the roads. Higher quality
asphalt-mix designs are used in resurfacing projects.
Crack sealing and spot paving have become a vital
component of the road maintenance programs. A com-
prehensive effort is being made to reduce the life cycle
cost of sustaining the road systems.
There are 184 miles of roads and streets in Warren,
and 135 are asphalt-surfaced. Generally, asphalt
roads need to be resurfaced every 10 to 15 years. The
