Township Outreach A Priority for 2010
Townships are considered the 'grassroots' level of government in Ohio. As such, they are seen as the level of government closest to the public and but they are faced with constant challenges, among them having to suffer with the smallest budgets of any local roadway agency in the state. Our center has taken on the challenge in 2010 of re-introducing Ohio LTAP to all township trustees and fiscal officers across Ohio.
Our center's staff felt the timing was right, as it had been five years since we had last conducted outreach sessions with the townships in their own counties. Since that time, there has been substantial turnover in trustees. We also felt the time was right, as townships are struggling to maintain their roadways in light of budget shortfalls and the continued aging of the roadway system.
Our approach to scheduling the outreach meetings was simplified because of an Ohio Law requiring all County Engineers to meet with their county's township trustees at least once per calendar year. We contacted all of the County Engineers to request time on their meeting schedule in order to present on what the Ohio LTAP program is and how we can be of assistance to the townships. If we were not able to participate in the Engineer's meeting, we then approached the Township Association in that county in order to request time to speak with their Township Trustees at a quarterly association meeting.
To date, our center has been able to meet with the Township Trustees in 40% of Ohio's counties. We have more upcoming meetings scheduled and will schedule the remaining meetings once we receive confirmed dates for the outstanding counties.
During our outreach presentations, we have also provided each township a copy of the Retroreflectivity Guide book and covered recent technical updates of interest for them.
The feedback has been excellent from our outreach sessions and we have seen an increase in requested circuit rider courses and other service areas. We are happy that we have been able to target our 'grassroots' customers in 2010 and will continue to educate all of our customers about LTAP's mission and that we are here to assist them into the future.
