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The Rockford Carnegie Library Board of Trustees will meet on Tuesday January 13 at 430 pm in the library basement meeting room. The public is always welcome to attend.
Winter Reminder
PRESS RELEASE
Winter Reminder from Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart and Snowplow crews:
During snow and ice removal nothing prevents crews from doing a safe and efficient job of clearing roadways more than abandoned vehicles on and along county roadways that either slow or obstruct snowplows from getting county roads open.
Here are a few winter safety driving tips that hopefully will allow snowplow crews to provide safe travel this winter for Mercer County motorists:
• If you have to travel during hazardous conditions, use common sense and adjust your speed to surrounding road conditions and slow down.
• When following a snowplow, be vigilant and stay back far enough so you can be seen in the snowplow driver’s mirrors. All snowplows have starting and stopping points on their routes and at times unexpected backing by the truck may be necessary. A lot of turning around at intersections occur.
• Many of the township and county road pavements are one-lane or narrower. Never attempt to pass from behind in these circumstances.
• When approaching a snowplow coming toward you on a typical two-lane road, give some room to those large trucks and pull over as far as you safely can. The tip of the blade usually is at or around the centerline of the pavement.
• Be vigilant at intersections and provide plenty of room. Plows may have to clear the edges of the radius of the intersection of snow and ice, which require many forward and reverse operations at the intersection area.
• If clearing driveway, do not push snow to the approach side of mailbox (place it on the exit side of the mailbox).
• Stay abreast of the road conditions and advisories issued by the local media.
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Snow –do not plow onto roadways
The Mercer County Engineer, Jim Wiechart, is reminding residents living on county and township roadways not to leave snow plowed from private driveways on the roadway.
Ohio law prohibits the placement of injurious material or any obstruction on a highway except that which is placed on the roadway by a proper authority, such as salt or grit the county and townships use to treat icy roads.
If it is found that snow displaced from a private drive onto a roadway contributes to an accident, the individual who placed it there could be found liable.
According to Sheriff Doug Timmerman of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, placing injurious materials or obstructing the roadway is a criminal offense.
Any additional questions contact the Mercer County Engineer’s Office at 419-586-7759.
PRESS RELEASE
Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart is announcing the policy covering replacement and repair of mailboxes damaged by county crews plowing snow.
Mailboxes and posts damaged by snow and ice thrown from plow blades will not be repaired by the Engineer’s office. Boxes and posts damaged by contact from a plow blade or truck will be replaced by the Engineer’s office, using light-weight standard steel mailboxes and posts.
Fog SEAL
Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart is announcing thatMercer County Engineer crews will be starting the fog seal work on various rural local roads in Mercer County this week.
The Mercer County Engineer road crews are preparing to place an asphalt sealant onto the roadway for roads that were chip sealed recently. The purpose of this sealant is to:
1. Further fill the cracks and voids in the pavement and better seal the pavement surface
2. Virtually eliminate all the dust and loose stone
3. Lessen the noise factor created by the new surface
4. Provide a black surface to better accentuate the yellow centerline stripe and to increase the winter snow/ice melting due to the blackened background
The sealant will be applied in mile increments and will cure out in about 1/2 hour. After that point, our crews will open that mile section to traffic and then move to the next section of roadway. Once cured, the sealant will not track nor spray onto vehicles. If drivers have to access specific locations within a closed fog sealed road section (and are not through traffic), they are encouraged to have patience and communicate with the crews in the area as we do the important work of improving our roads.
BRIDGE CLOSING
The Mercer County Engineer, Jim Wiechart, is planning to close Carthagena Road between Philothea Road and US 127 in Granville Township for a culvert replacement. This road will be closed tentatively on July 7, 2025 and is scheduled to reopen in approximately 3 weeks, depending on the weather conditions.
Any additional questions, contact the Mercer County Engineer’s Office at 419-586-7759.
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Mercer County Engineer, Jim Wiechart, is planning to close Tama Road between Township Line Road and Now Roadin Hopewell Township for a bridge replacement. This road will be closed tentatively on May 27, 2025 and is scheduled to reopen in approximately 5-6 weeks, depending on the weather conditions.
Any additional questions, contact the Mercer County Engineer’s Office at 419-586-7759.
The Rockford Carnegie Library Board of Trustees will be meeting on Tuesday, June 10, at 4 p.m. in the library basement meeting room. The public is welcome to attend this regular meeting of the trustees.
CHIP & SEAL SEASON
Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart is announcing that crews will be starting the yearly chip and seal work within the next week on approximately 75 miles of rural local roads in Mercer County.
We are requesting that yard mowing trimmings not be blown onto the county and township roads. Cut grass on the pavement creates additional prep work to get the roads ready for chip and seal and impedes the speed of the work.
Blowing excess grass onto the roadway also makes a hazard for motorists and especially motorcycle riders that most of us don’t think about related to loss of traction. This becomes even more dangerous with rain on the roadway. Stopping distances increase and friction between the tires and pavement decrease. This scenario has caused tragic accidents and has opened up unknowing property owners to lawsuits. We respectfully request that private mowers are turned around for a couple of passes to keep our roads and traveling public safe.
County and township roads with “Loose Stone” or “Loose Gravel” signs posted are roads that are scheduled to be chip and sealed this season. These roads will have temporary closures during the chip and seal process. Excess stone from the placement of the asphalt emulsion will be broomed after the asphalt emulsion has set up. Usually, within a day or two of placement, brooming of the excess stone will occur. We thank you for your patience in helping to keep the traveling public and our workers safe.
Roadside Herbicide
To spray or not to spray
Roadside herbicide application for the suppression of undesirable vegetation and environmental enhancement, through the use of Environmental Protection Agency approved herbicides, will be performed by licensed personnel along allcounty roads in Mercer County and on township roads in Jefferson Township & Center Township, starting May 1, 2025extending thru May 31, 2025, according to the Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart.
Anyone who has sensitive areas adjacent to any road right-of-way and does not wish for those areas to be treated must erect signs reading “Do Not Spray”.
For further information, contact the office of the Mercer County Engineer at 419-586-7759.
DITCH MAINTENANCE SPRAYING BEGINS
Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart is announcing that crews are tentatively scheduled to begin the 2025 herbicidal spray application of various open drainage ditches located in Mercer County. Only those ditches that are on the county maintenance program maintained by the Mercer County Engineer’s Office will be sprayed.
Allen Chase Enterprises has been awarded the contract this year to apply one application of the E.P.A. approved herbicide, to suppress and control undesirable brush and noxious weeds within the channel and maintenance berm. Right of Way Management, St. Joseph, IN will be the subcontractor performing the work.
Weather permitting, the tentatively scheduled completion date for this year’s herbicidal spray application is May 31, 2025. Any landowner having questions or concerns regarding the herbicide application, should contact the Mercer County Engineer’s Office, 4195867759.
Spring planting & open ditch maintenance
The Mercer County Commissioners and the Mercer County Engineer would like to remind those who plant and till the fields around the county this spring to remember to avoid planting in the roadway right-of-way. The Engineer and the Commissioner’s Office have maps that identify the varied widths of the road right-of-way throughout the county. More specifically, sight problems limiting the ability of the traveling public to see, can be particularly hazardous.
Also, a reminder to those along county-maintained open ditches. By law there is a maintenance easement for access adjacent to the tops of banks of the open ditches. We encourage the use of filter strips to eliminate sedimentation and soil erosion adjacent to the open ditches. Keep in mind that our maintenance crews use the easement for access for the maintenance operations we perform (the spraying of weeds and brush is the most significant maintenance operation).
Should you have any questions related to these requirements, please feel free to call the Commissioners’ Office at 419-586-3178 or the Engineer’s Office at 419-586-7759.
Bridge Closing
The Mercer County Engineer, Jim Wiechart, is planning to close Hone-Weir Road between Now Road and Township LineRoad in Hopewell Township for a bridge replacement. This road will be closed tentatively on April 15, 2025 and is scheduled to reopen in approximately 3-4 weeks, depending on the weather conditions.
Any additional questions, contact the Mercer County Engineer’s Office at 419-586-7759.
COUNTY REMINDER
Ohio Law prohibits signs on trees and poles. Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart has issued a reminder that the Ohio Revised Code prohibits the erection of signs or affixing signs, posters or advertisement to any tree or utilitpole within the right-of-way of any public highway.
Political candidates, campaign workers and supporters of issues appearing on the ballot are reminded that these signs are subject to removal.
Bridge Inspection
Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart announced recently that the yearly bridge inspections of Mercer County’s 379 bridges on township and county roads have been completed. Assistant County Engineer, Aaron Moeller completed the inspections before the end of 2024.
“Bridge inspection is completed annually for several very important reasons. First our bridge maintenance/work orders are generated directly from our yearly inspections. Secondly, decisions on future bridge replacements/rehabilitations are made as a result of the condition ratings garnered from the inspection. Third and most importantly, we inspect them to protect the public that uses them each day.”
In Ohio, the professionally licensed and elected County Engineer manages and oversees bridge inspections on township and county roadways. Any questions, concerns about bridges may be directed to the engineer’s office.
Roadside Hazards
The Mercer County Engineer’s Office has been, is and is continuing to determine and act upon ways to improve the safety of our rural local roadways in Mercer County. One of the aspects of roadway safety we have tried to improve upon is the roadside clear zones. The roadside clear zones can be generally defined as the total roadside area starting at the edge of the traveled way, available for safe use by errant vehicles. Simply stated, it is an unobstructed, relatively flat area beyond the edge of the traveled way (pavement) that allows a driver to stop safely or regain control of a vehicle that leaves the pavement surface.
In virtually all cases, the legal road right-of-way extends well past the paved section of the roadway. The Mercer County Engineer has right-of-way maps which show the existing width of the legal road right-of-way. These widths of right-of-way vary on the various rural local roads. Anything placed within the road right-of-way by a property owner is subject to removal by our crews. The most common examples of such items are trees, bushes, landscaping, decorative rocks, fences, buildings, etc. For the safety and usability of our rural local roads, we ask property owners to keep items like this outside of the road right-of-way and appreciate the public’s support in making our roads better and safer for all who use them and all who adjoin them.
Landowners having questions about specific right-of-way widths of county and township roadways should contact the Mercer County Engineer’s Office 419-586-7759.
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