Townships unhappy with trucking weight allowance proposal
As the state of Ohio prepares to create legislation to increase the weight allowance on Ohio’s roads, townships in Holmes County and the county board of commissioners are standing firm in their resistance to the proposal, which would increase the weight allowance by 15 percent.A resolution was authorized Monday, Sept. 28, in support of the Holmes County Township Association and Ohio Townships Association, who have joined forces to respectfully oppose the state’s increase for commercial vehicles with six axles to carry 92,000 pounds on all roads within the state of Ohio.
The townships are of the opinion that by allowing trucks with six axles to carry up to 92,000 pounds, it will cause irreparable distress to townships and villages in rural communities where roadways and bridges are not built to sustain such heavy loads.
The Holmes County Township Association is currently supporting the efforts of the state township association legislative director to create legislation that would deal with the damage done by these big rigs on township roads, and would require payment for any road damage done. The current weight limitation stands at 80,000 pounds, and the townships’ concerns are that the additional 12,000 pounds per truck will be too heavy for the roads to withstand.
The commissioners agreed, having had to deal with numerous roadway issues throughout the county over the past number of years, where trucks have beaten up smaller roads.
“It really doesn’t matter how many axles you have, you’ll still have the same amount of weight going over roads and bridges that aren’t designed to carry that much weight,” said Commissioner Joe Miller. “We’ve been in discussion with (Holmes County engineer) Chris Young, and we’ve talked about the significant damage that kind of weight could cause, especially to our bridges.”
Another resolution was passed, approving the Holmes County Department of Job & Family Services (JFS) Prevention, Retention and Contingency Plan, which was recently updated.
According to the JFS plan, the office and its employees have committed to providing competent and caring responses to those seeking personal aid. They also have vowed to encourage clients to develop their own vision of a better future, as teams of supportive professionals help them move toward self-sufficiency.
The goals of the program are:
Ÿ To assist families to self-sufficiency
Ÿ Prevent the family from reliance of ongoing cash assistance
Ÿ Divert the family from reliance on ongoing cash assistance and guide them to self-sufficiency by helping them through a presenting crisis
Ÿ Retain employment, and thereby achieve or continue self-sufficiency
Ÿ Provide for a presenting contingent need, which, if not satisfied, threatens the safety, health or well-being of one or more of the assistance group members.
The commissioners also threw their support behind Issue 2, noting that agriculture is the number one contributor in Ohio’s economy, and the state has more than 75,000 farms, approximately half of which are livestock. They also said it was important to back the issue, which will create a safe farming food market in Ohio without unreasonable demands, because of the impressive way farmers in Ohio have continued to show a great respect for their livestock over the decades.
The supporting resolution passed by the commissioners states that “Ohio’s farming community has proven to be very capable of committing themselves to proper care of animals, and Ohioans do want to know that their food is coming from a reliable source.
“Therefore, the creation of Issue 2 includes the creation of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, which will provide said guidelines for farm animal care in Ohio.”
The board will be put in place to protect the safety of Ohio’s food supply, leverage the best available Ohio animal care and food safety expertise in the state, enhance consumer confidence in Ohio-raised foods, ensure that decisions about Ohio farming and food are made by Ohio experts, maintain the viability of Ohio’s agriculture economy and sustain Ohio’s family livestock and poultry farms for generations to come.