It’s been a long road for a group of St. Marys residents to have road declared public

ST. MARYS - A group of St. Marys residents’ commitment to seeing their road declared a public road has paid off after months of stating their case before St. Marys City Council.

Recently council approved a motion to accept South Michael Road Extension as a city road and to bring it up to the standards of 1977 when upkeep began on the road, which now likely includes tarring and chipping. The area of the road in question is situated behind the St. Marys Municipal Airport runway and is about eight tenths of a mile in length. It currently stands in need of repairs and serves as the sole means of access to a public road for residents who own property south of the airport runway.

City Solicitor Tom Wagner stated that in addressing a longstanding historical problem, people who use the road are not asking the city to build it in order to make money by selling property lots along the road, rather they are trying to resolve a dispute. He added it is within city council’s discretion as a legislative body to declare the road as a public road.

A portion of the meeting became a bit heated as residents and Councilman Ned Jacob clashed offering differing opinions. Jacob, also a member of the airport authority, cast the only no vote on the resolution.

Jacob questioned what city road would be neglected in order to take care of this newly acquired road.

Councilman Bob Roberts, who has served on three previous city councils, said during a previous council meeting this is the third time he has had to deal with the issue.

City Solicitor Tom Wagner noted that his recollection of the standards of roads in 1977 were relatively simple in that they were required to be mud free and permanently passable. With this new declaration, any right of way on the road will need to be turned over to the city. A turn around may need to be placed at the end of the road.

“The road is on city property,” Wagner said. “Assuming we can get a conveyance from one resident, all this road will be on land owned by the city, so legally the city has the power to declare this to be a public road, however that is for council to decide.”

Wagner said he will need to obtain data about the road in order to prepare an ordinance to declare it a public road. The most important information is to learn where the road stops and where it crosses over private property as he would need to obtain the proper paperwork from that property owner.

Councilman Jerry Sorg noted they do not want to do too much work on the road unless cooperating with the airport regarding drainage plan that is planned for the future.

Where it all began

Residents of the road first appeared before city council in March and have been faithfully attending council

meetings each month to inquire about the status of the road, in particular the ownership and upkeep of the road.

Several residents were initially notified their portion of the road would no longer be plowed via a letter sent by the St. Marys Airport Authority. The authority’s solicitor Thomas Beveridge penned the letter which explained the authority is not liable for the condition of the road. Due to certain rules handed down by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), the authority is prohibited from using airport equipment outside of airport property. The equip was funded by the FAA. The letter was sent in the October/November 2021 time frame.

For over 50 years the city and the airport authority worked together in maintaining the road as part of a handshake agreement. The city would provide any excess material leftover from the season for use to patch holes on the road, grate it, and tar and chip the road. Residents stated the road is in the worst shape it has ever been in since the 1970s.

In June, city council approved a resolution for city staff to use city equipment to grade and shape the road in order to make it suitable for use by residents. This will cost an estimated $91,351.

Included in the resolution is that the city will not provide any winter maintenance for the road as residents must make their own arrangements to do so.

At that time the resolution specifically noted the road is not and has never been a public road for which the city has any responsibility to repair or maintain. City council stated they would consider accepting the road as a public road only if and when it is improved to a condition similar to that of other public paved roads within the city.

In an effort to further discuss and research the matter a special committee was formed consisting of Councilmen Bob Roberts, Jerry Sorg and Andrew Mohney along with three members of the St. Marys Airport Authority and three residents of S. Michael Road. Sorg acted as the committee chairman.

Throughout the past several months the road’s residents have offered their input regarding the matter. A frequent question that has been asked during city council meetings is “whose road is it anyway?” The resolution describes the road as extending south for a distance of 500 ft. and then runs west, parallel to the airport runway, for a distance of 2,689 ft. to the northwest corner of property belonging to Charles J. Fritz.

In an unrecorded agreement dated March 7, 1973, the Borough of St. Marys and the St. Marys Airport Authority conveyed to Vincent Wolfe a personal, non-assignable right-of-way extending west from South Michael Private Road for a distance of 700 ft. to serve the lands of Vincent Wolfe, now owned by Marshall Wolfe.

The resolution notes there has not been a consistent history of repair and maintenance to the road. The original road comprising the western part of S. Michael Private Road is believed to have been constructed by private property owners in the area. At one point the property owners and the airport authority entered into a costsharing agreement to make improvements to the existing road. The eastern portion, including the 500 ft. connected to S. Michael Road, was constructed by the airport authority at the time of expansion of the runway in 1979.

Benzinger Township and/or the airport authority have provided some tar and chip surfacing of the road and some winter maintenance. More recently millings from city street repaving projects have been deposited on portions of the road.

Wagner explained the reasoning behind the resolution, emphasizing the airport authority was making agreements on behalf of the city which they were never permitted to do.

According to the resolution “the road has never been constructed to standards of public roads in the city and is so deteriorated that it is not fit or safe for public travel.”

The city previously estimated the cost to improve the road to a condition similar to other public gravel roads would cost $246,703. Costs to rebuild the entire road stand at $644,500 to bring it to the standard of a paved road for public use. The resolution states this cost is beyond the current financial ability of the city and is not reasonable to improve the road to a standard which might allow its dedication as a public road.

The city has received other requests for them to accept unpaved roads as part of the public road system, which have uniformly been denied because of the excessive cost of maintaining such unpaved roads.