(A) A resolution of a board of county commissioners undertaking a regional transportation improvement project must include a cooperative agreement containing all of the following:

(1) A description or analysis of the deficiencies of the existing transportation system in the counties participating in the project and of projected needs or deficiencies of the system in ensuing years under reasonable assumptions about development, population trends, and other factors affecting transportation infrastructure in the counties;

(2) A comprehensive list of the transportation improvements to be completed as part of the project, including a general description of each improvement, schedules of the projected beginning and end of each improvement, and the estimated cost of each improvement;

(3) Directives regarding the operations and reporting requirements of the governing board;

(4) Subject to division (E) of this section, the period for which the agreement is to be in effect;

(5) Any other terms the board of county commissioners considers necessary or conducive to communicate the intentions of the cooperative agreement and to ensure its effective implementation by the governing board.

(B) A board of county commissioners that intends to undertake a regional transportation improvement project shall hold at least one public hearing on the proposed cooperative agreement before adopting a resolution approving the agreement. The board of county commissioners shall provide at least thirty days' public notice of the time and place of the public hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. During the thirty-day period before the public hearing, the proposed cooperative agreement shall be made available for public inspection at the offices of each county that will be a party to the agreement.

(C) If the cooperative agreement is approved by each county that will be a party to the agreement, one of the participating counties shall send a copy of the agreement to the director of transportation. The director shall evaluate the agreement and determine if the transportation improvements specified in the agreement are in the best interest of the transportation facilities of this state, as defined in section 5501.01 of the Revised Code. If the director approves the agreement, the director shall send notice of approval to each county that is a party to the agreement. Unless otherwise provided in the cooperative agreement, the agreement is effective immediately upon approval by the director. If the director does not approve the agreement, the director shall send notice of denial to each county that is a party to the agreement. The notice of denial shall include the reason or reasons for the denial and recommendations for ways in which the agreement may be changed to meet the approval of the director. If the director does not make a determination within ninety days after receiving a cooperative agreement under this section, the director is deemed to have approved the agreement and, unless otherwise provided in the agreement, the agreement is effective immediately. No cooperative agreement is effective without actual or constructive approval by the director under this section.

(D) The cooperative agreement governing a regional transportation improvement project may be amended at any time by majority vote of the governing board and of the boards of county commissioners of each of the participating counties and with the approval of the director of transportation obtained in the same manner as approval of the original agreement.

(E) The period for which a cooperative agreement adopted or amended under this section is in effect shall not exceed fifteen years following the effective date of the original agreement or, if the agreement authorizes the governing board to issue securities, twenty years following the first issuance of securities by the governing board.

Amended by 132nd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 49, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2017.

Added by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 494, §1, eff. 3/23/2015.

Related Legislative Provision: See 132nd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 49, §803.300.